Santana performs concert in Hiroshima

Guitarist says he's on a ‘mission to ignite peace’ at commemoration show

	Carlos Santana performs as part of his Japan tour in Hiroshima on Aug. 2. Santana, along with jazz giants Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, performed as part of a concert commemorating the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing on Aug. 6.
Junji Kurokawa / AP

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updated 11:21 a.m. ET Aug. 2, 2005

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Saying he was on a "mission to ignite peace," guitar legend Carlos Santana played before a sold-out crowd at a concert Tuesday to mark the 60th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack.

The concert was one of dozens of events this city is holding ahead of the memorial ceremony on Saturday. About 50,000 people, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, are expected to gather in Peace Memorial Park for Saturday's anniversary.

"It is an honor to be here and to be of service with our music," Santana told the "Emissaries for Peace" concert crowd of about 2,000. "We want to give birth to a world with peace in our lifetime."

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Santana, joined by jazz greats Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, visited Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park earlier in the day. Last week, the trio played a similar concert in Nagasaki, which was devastated by an atomic bomb three days after the attack on Hiroshima.

About 200,000 people were killed in the blasts. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, bringing World War II to a close.