A Heroic Music Community Supports COVID-19 Relief Efforts

Jay-Z
Donation: $1,000,000

In the past month, hundreds of music artists have cancelled tours and/or postponed the release of new music and merchandise. Nevertheless, tens of musicians have responded to the coronavirus pandemic by donating millions in cash and services for COVID-19 relief efforts.

Pink and her three-year-old son displayed symptoms and tested positive for COVID-19. They sheltered-at-home and two weeks later tested negative. In the aftermath, the Grammy Award-winning pop singer donated $1 million to coronavirus-related relief funds, with $500,000 going to both the Temple University Hospital Fund in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the COVID-19 response fund run by the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles in California. The Temple University donation honored the singer’s mother, who worked in the hospital’s cardiomyopathy and heart transplant center for 18 years. P!nk is originally from Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Rihanna's nonprofit organization, the Clara Lionel Foundation, announced on March 21 that it donated $5 million to various COVID-19 rapid response efforts supporting underserved communities from the U.S. to Malawi. The organization is donating the funds to Direct Relief, Partners In Health, Feeding America, the International Rescue Committee, World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and other organizations. In addition to that $5 million, Rihanna's Clara Lionel Foundation and Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Foundation teamed to donate a combined $2 million in grants to support undocumented workers, the children of frontline health workers and first responders, and incarcerated, elderly and homeless populations in New York City and Los Angeles. The recipient organization of that donation was not named.

James Taylor
Donation: $1,000,000

James Taylor and his wife Kim donated $1 million to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was born. The contribution to the hospital’s Emergency Response Fund supports the hospital's ongoing efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic. The donation is earmarked in-house testing for COVID-19, establishing a coronavirus hotline for patients, allowing spaces in the hospital to be quickly transformed to accommodate COVID patients, expanding telemedicine capabilities, and purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Bruno Mars, now a Las Vegas headliner, donated $1 million to the MGM Resorts Foundation to support MGM employees impacted economically by the coronavirus.

Dolly Parton announced on April 1 that she pledged a $1 million donation to towards COVID-19 research at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.

Billy Joel
Donation: $500,000

Elton John and his Elton John Foundation launched a $1million COVID-19 Emergency Fund to help communities that could be impacted catastrophically by the pandemic. John posted on social media that "our new COVID-19 emergency fund will help frontline partners to prepare for, and respond to, the pandemic and its effects on HIV prevention and care for the most marginalized communities."

Billy Joel and his wife Alexis announced on March 31 that their foundation, the Joel Foundation, would be making "a series of donations" to aid coronavirus relief efforts. The first contribution was $500,000 to BStrong to buy personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. Of that donation, 75 percent will go to New York and Long Island hospitals, and the remaining 25 percent will go to hospitals in other parts of New York State.

Metallica
Donation : $350,000

Metallica's charitable foundation, All Within My Hands, announced four grants totaling $350,000 that will be dedicated to organizations assisting with relief efforts during the pandemic. The organization is donating the funds to Crew Nation, Direct Relief, Feeding America, and the United States Bartenders' Guild's National Charity Foundation. In addition, Metallica will continue fundraising through the #MetallicaMondays streaming series; each Monday at 8PM ET, the band will broadcast via social media a full concert from the Metallica video archives. These broadcasts so far have generated another $15,000 to support those impacted by COVID-19.

Shawn Mendes
Donation $175,000

Shawn Mendes and his Shawn Mendes Foundation donated $175,000 to the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada. The SickKids Foundation website reported that the donation "enabled the purchase of needed equipment and supplies for COVID-19 preparedness."

Fall Out Boy
Donation: $100,000

Fall Out Boy announced on April 3 a $100,000 donation to the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund. The Chicago Community Trust and United Way of Metro Chicago launched the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund to unite the funds raised by Chicago’s philanthropies, corporations and individuals to be disbursed to nonprofit organizations across the region.

After bars had to close indefinitely in Nashville, Tennessee, country singer Dierks Bentley announced he was giving the 90 hourly employees of his bar, Whiskey Row Nashville, $1,000 to "help in the short run as our community and country try get a handle on the situation."

Suga of pop group BTS donated between $82,000 and  $83,000 US to Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association, an organization based in his hometown of Daegu, South Korea.

From his living room, Better Than Ezra vocalist/guitarist Kevin Griffin livestreamed a solo acoustic performance on social media to benefit the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund. MusiCares is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping musicians. To date, the March 19 performance raised more than $41,000.

Justin Bieber pledged via social media on February 13 to donate 200,000 RNB (approximately $29,000) to the Beijing Chunmiao Charity Foundation, a children's charity in China, to help with the coronavirus relief efforts. Bieber also joined Demi Lovato, Olivia O'Brien, Britney Spears and Britney's younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears in accepting the #Doyourpartchallenge to deliver food and necessities to needy individuals while also supporting local restaurants and businesses.

Assisting locals affected by recent tornadoes or unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kip Moore recently paid in advance a $5,000 tab at the Wild Cow restaurant in East Nashville, Tennessee. Also, Eat Well Nashville announced it was teaming with Kip Moore and the West Nashville Dream Center to provide over 3,000 meals to area children who stopped receiving free daily meals due to school closures.

Singer-songwriter Milck (born Connie K. Lim) is livestreaming a weekly concert and conversation series called Milck Mondays to benefit Feeding America. She has raised $3,160 so far.

Many additional artists contributed amounts that were unspecified.

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has given money and three months of health insurance coverage to the employees of Grimey’s New & Preloved Music, a record store in Nashville, Tennessee. She has also given several fans $3,000 stimulus checks.

Cardi B

Cardi B’s coronavirus remix, created by DJ iMarkkeyz, has gone viral, and the rapper and the DJ said they both will donate the revenue from the track, although they did not specify where the funds would go.

Ciara and her husband, quarterback Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks, donated one million meals to the food insecure via Food Lifeline's Seattle-based food banks.

Miley Cyrus partnered with brand Emi Jay for a "Care Together" campaign to support Feeding America. All proceeds from shoppers purchasing hair ties from the brand and using the code "BrightMinded" will benefit the organization. Cyrus and her musician boyfriend Cody Simpson also delivered 120 tacos on April 4 to healthcare workers at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California.

Florida Georgia Line (Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley) provided financial assistance to employees of FGL House, their temporarily-closed restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee.

G-Eazy and his Endless Summer Fund teamed with Larkin Street Youth Services to provide a month's worth of meals to local at-risk youth in San Francisco, California.

Lady Gaga and her cosmetics company, Haus Laboratories, announced on March 16 a plan to donate 20 percent of its online profits from the previous week to the L.A. Regional Food Bank and Food Bank for New York City.

David Longstreth

Selena Gomez announced on social media on March 30 that she donated to the non-profit Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. "They are low on masks and ventilators," she posted, adding "They’ve taken such good care of me so it’s my turn to show my gratitude." In 2017, Gomez had a kidney transplant at the hospital following her lupus diagnosis, and in 2018 she reportedly checked herself into a mental health treatment center at the facility due to a struggle with anxiety and depression.

Lecrae partnered with Love Beyond Walls to assemble portable handwashing stations in Atlanta, Georgia. The sinks were filled with water, loaded on trucks, and distributed to key locations frequented by the homeless in the Atlanta Metro Area.

Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Isolation," with all proceeds through April 3 going toward MusiCares' COVID-19 relief fund for musicians and music industry workers.

John Mayer

Ricky Martin and his nonprofit organization, Project Hope, will purchase face masks, isolation gowns, protective coveralls and gloves. The recipient organization was not named.

John Mayer made a "generous" donation to the non-profit Livingston HealthCare hospital in Livingston, Montana, according to a spokesperson for Livingston HealthCare Foundation, the hospital’s fundraising sector. The donation will be used to purchase ventilators. Mayer lives part time in Park County, Montana.

The National

The National created a fundraiser to benefit 12 concert crew members who became unemployed when the rock band canceled an international tour due to the coronavirus pandemic. The band announced it "will direct all profits from merch sales through our webstore, new Cherry Tree fan club enrollments, and sales from the Cherry Tree members-only store to support our crew members."

British pop star Rita Ora partnered with the United Nations to design merch to benefit the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. Donations support the World Health Organization’s work to track and understand the spread of the virus; to ensure patients get the care they need and frontline workers get essential supplies and information; and to accelerate efforts to develop vaccines, tests, and treatments.

Brad Paisley and his wife Kimberly Williams-Paisley teamed with Belmont University and Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to open The Store, a grocery store in Nashville that charges nothing to individuals and families experiencing food insecurities and financial hardship. The Store was scheduled to open in mid-April, but opened in March to respond to the needs of those impacted by recent tornadoes and the COVID-19 pandemic. He announced on March 17 that The Store would deliver to elderly neighbors in Edgehill and Berry Hill.

Justin Timberlake announced on social media on March 15 that he is donating to the Mid-South Food Bank in his native Memphis, Tennessee. The food bank assembles and delivers nonperishable food to families in need.

Kanye West

Kanye West donated to donated to We Women Empowered in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, and to the Dream Center in Los Angeles, California. Both organizations provide meals to the elderly, families and children affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Lil Nas X offered via social media on March 12 to help fans with their bills during the pandemic. "hey guys drop ur cashapp," he posted. "gonna send some of u some money to go get some food then stay inside."

See Everynight Charley Crespo's earlier COVID-19 reports:
COVID-19 Continues to Spread among Musicians
and
COVID-19 Takes the Lives of Local Musicians.

All photographs by Everynight Charley Crespo.