Seven Musicians Who Are Raising Money Right Now to Benefit Others

Many popular musicians are in a unique position to amplify support for important causes. When they rally around something, others follow suit, raising further awareness and fundraising efforts.

A lot has been going on in the world lately. Natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey have displaced thousands from their homes. Hate groups have made people feel unsafe just being themselves. Mental health has also become a growing issue in society today.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, recently wrote about some of the most memorable benefit concerts in recent history. Now, it’s time to look at current events happening over the next few days and months. Here are seven artists who are currently raising awareness and money for important causes.

1.       Green Day: On Tuesday, Green Day did an hour-long live stream on Facebook raising money for Americares, an organization that gives help to areas affected by natural disasters. So far, the band has raised more than $140,000 for the organization’s Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. People can still donate to the organization through the archived stream, which will remain up for the next week.

2.       Bun B: Houston rapper Bun B and Scooter Braun (manager  to Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande)  have teamed up to create the ‘Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Harvey Relief’ telethon. Airing September 12 on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, the telethon will feature appearances from musicians Blake Shelton, Barbra Streisand, George Strait and Houston, Texas native, Beyonce. Organizations that will receive money from the telethon include the United Way of Greater Houston, Habitat for Humanity, Save the Children, Direct Relief, Feeding Texas and the Mayor’s Fund for Hurricane Harvey Relief.

3.       Beyoncé: Aside from her appearance in the telethon, Beyonce has already raised a lot of money for Houston. Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, the singer has been working with Bread of Life and the Greater Houston Community Foundation to help with relief efforts. Donations to her organization can be made through her website.

4.       Solange: Like her sister Beyonce, Solange is also spearheading an effort to raise money for relief in Houston. The singer has announced a benefit show in Boston for September 28 with support from Sun Ra Arkestra.

5.       Dave Matthews Band: Following the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, Dave Matthews has organized a free concert for the city’s citizens. The star-studded event will take place on September 24 at Scott Stadium at the University of Virginia and feature performances from Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande, Pharrell Williams, Chris Stapleton, The Roots, Cage The Elephant, Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes and more. Donations made by concert goers will go to the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation to help families affected by events of August 11 and 12.

6.        Metallica: Over the last few years, more and more people have been fighting for better mental health awareness, and in particular suicide prevention. The music world has already been rocked twice this year from the deaths of Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington. With World Suicide Prevention Day occurring this Sunday, a massive radio campaign, titled “I’m Listening,” is being organized by Entercom to “break the stigma attached to discussing mental health.” Artists involved in the campaign are Metallica, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff, Disturbed’s David Draiman, Logic, Halsey and more. The campaign includes a two-hour special airing on Sunday.

7.       Chance the Rapper: Chance the Rapper’s generosity shows that there does not need to be a national event for someone to want to affect change. The rapper has been showing himself to be a proponent of the public school system over the last few months and has now donated more than two million dollars for the Chicago Public Schools’ art programs through SocialWorks. Chance the Rapper has also announced that he will be organizing a new event, the Twilight Awards, which will recognize “teachers, parents, principals and students that convey leadership.”

Whether it’s raising money for those who no longer have homes because of the hurricane, giving back to those effected by hate, helping those who may be suffering in their personal lives or making sure all kids have a decent education, these artists are using their fan bases right now to help others who need it. When musicians use their popularity for good, more good can happen in the world.

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Support artists who support helping others by finding music from these artists and more at Vinyl Bay 777. As Long Island’s top new independent record shop, we have thousands of titles to choose from in an array of genres. Browse our wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs, memorabilia and more. Drop by our Plainview location or shop online at vinylbay777.com. With more titles being added all the time, you never know what you might find at Vinyl Bay 777.

Six Biggest Benefit Concerts of the Last 35 Years

Over the years, there have been many large-scale benefit concerts held to raise awareness for various causes. From 1971, when George Harrison organized the Concert for Bangladesh in an effort to raise money and awareness for refugees in that area, to today with events like One Love Manchester, these global events have been effective at getting people to support those in need.

‘Give a Home’ is the latest of these large-scale concerts. Organized by Amnesty International and Sofar Sounds, the event will find indie artists playing intimate house gigs in more than 60 countries to raise awareness of the refugee crisis. Some of the artists already associated with the event include The National, Local Natives, Frightened Rabbit, Hot Chip, Billy Bragg and more. Some of the events will be live streamed on Facebook Live and VICE.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, is taking a look back at some of the biggest benefit shows that have taken place in the last 40 years. From raising money in the face of tragedy to raising awareness for injustice in the world, here are six events that have brought people together with music on a global scale.

1.       One Love Manchester: The most recent of the big benefit events was One Love Manchester. Organized by Ariana Grande in under two weeks following the bombing of her show at an arena in Manchester, England on May 22 where 22 people were killed and 100 more were injured, the one-night event raised approximately $13 Million for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund. The show boasted big-name performers, including Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Coldplay and Oasis’ Liam Gallagher, among many others, and was both broadcast live on television and streamed all over the world.

2.       America: A Tribute to Heroes / The Concert for New York City: Grande wasn’t the only celebrity to raise money to help those who were affected by an act of terror. Back in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks, the people of New York came together to show support for victims and their families. Two shows were organized and broadcast live; America: ‘A Tribute to Heroes’ and ‘The Concert for New York City.’ ‘America’ was a joint effort instigated by the four big broadcast networks to raise money for victims who were lost that day. A month later, ‘The Concert for New York City’ was held at Madison Square Garden to raise money for the Robin Hood Foundation, money which went to the families of police officers, firefighters and other first-responders who lost their lives trying to save others. The show was organized by Beatle Paul McCartney and featured musical performances and short films from New York based directors.

3.       12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief: In 2012, the North Eastern United States, Mid-Atlantic and Caribbean were hit with one of the worst storms in its history. Many people lost their homes due to flooding, causing more than $60 million in damage. The 12-12-12 concert took place at Madison Square Garden and was organized by the same people as The Concert for New York. Through the Robin Hood Relief Fund and ticket sales, the event raised more than $30 million for the victims.

4.       Live Aid: One of the first and largest-scale benefit concerts of its time, Live Aid was created by Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1985 as a way to raise awareness of the famine in Ethiopia. The concert had two main hubs, one in London and one in Philadelphia, where live performances took place and both were broadcast live around the globe on television commercial-free.

5.       Live 8: A sort of sequel to Live Aid, Live 8 took place nearly 20 years later with the purpose of bring awareness to global poverty. The event attempted to push the hand of the G8 summit, which was happening only weeks later, to do something about the perceived crisis. This time there were 10 concerts happening simultaneously all over the world, with television networks broadcasting highlights from each show.

6.       Live Earth: Another global benefit show was organized just two years later, this time as a way to raise awareness about climate change. Spearheaded by former vice president Al Gore and producer Kevin Wall, Live Earth took “global” a step further with performances being broadcast via satellite from eleven shows across all seven continents, including Antarctica. It was the first real attempt at getting people to realize that global warming is a problem and was instrumental at getting countries to start changing their ways in an effort to reduce their carbon footprints.

These six events are proof that large-scale concerts can be an effective tool in raising awareness. Music has the power to bring people together, regardless of who they are or where they are. Whether they support those affected by tragedy or injustice, benefit shows make people stand up and take notice and remind people that we are all one. ‘Give a Home’ will continue that global unity ideal, taking the concept to a new level by bringing it straight to the people.

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Find music from socially conscious musicians and more at Vinyl Bay 777 and vinylbay777.com. Long Island’s top new independent record shop has thousands of titles to choose from in a variety of genres. Choose from our wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs, memorabilia and more in store and online. With more titles being added to our selection all the time, it always a great time stop by and see what’s new.