We talked yesterday abut Josh Gad reading bedtime stories during the COVID-19 pandemic. I wrote about Josh because I think he’s really neat, but he’s certainly not the only celebrity trying to help out during this bizarre and scary time. Amy Adams and Jennifer Garner are also reading stories and trying to raise money to feed children affected by school closures. Patton Oswalt did standup on his balcony. In addition, many musicians are doing what they can to raise spirits for fans across the globe. The first performance that I knew of was Yo Yo Ma, a good friend of the late Mr. Rogers, who gave an online rendition of Dvorák’s Going Home.
In these days of anxiety, I wanted to find a way to continue to share some of the music that gives me comfort. The first of my #SongsOfComfort: Dvořák – "Going Home”
Stay safe. pic.twitter.com/S28w6OlXiZ
— Yo-Yo Ma (@YoYo_Ma) March 13, 2020
Following him Chris Martin* from Coldplay, who’d been forced to cancel a show, recorded from his home studio while responding to his fans and taking requests:
As he said in the video, Chris is calling his efforts #TogetherAtHome and suggested other musicians might want to join from their isolation rooms. Chris specifically named John Legend, who happily accepted and performed live yesterday. Chrissy Teigen told fans they got to select her outfit and they voted on a towel. She complied, bless her. My gawd – this man’s voice, especially on his rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water:
.@johnlegend is performing a live concert on IGTV to 114,000 people as @chrissyteigen sits on the piano in a towel. pic.twitter.com/yjXWIOmPyF
— Jack Appleby (@JuiceboxCA) March 17, 2020
Whether they were inspired by Chris and John or not, others also welcomed fans into their homes for a brief respite from isolation. Pink let us sit in on her self-given piano lesson:
Keith Urban, who also had cancelled a gig, recorded in his home studio and was joined by wife Nicole Kidman, who served as his live audience:
David Foster and Katharine McPhee are performing live events each evening at 5:30PM PDT:
Rob Thomas called his recording #SocialDistanceSessions and turned it into a challenge, inviting a group of other musicians to post their own:
The artists to a moment out of their performances to promote coronavirus safety and mention various charities to benefit those most affected (mainly local food banks, just fyi) All of these bring me joy. I’m a huge fan of musicians offering up different variations of their well-known songs. Plus, they all look like they’re having a blast with these recordings, as if they’re getting as much out of it as we are. It’ll be exciting to see how far this goes (a Skype concert?) I’m not usually this sappy but I’ll admit, watching all these celebs trying to find ways to calm the world around them, it’s hitting me in the feels.
NPR posted Harry Styles’ Tiny Desk concert on Monday for folks at home to watch. It doesn’t totally count because it wasn’t recorded at home in response to the self-isolation mandate, but hell, it’s Harry Styles and in my book, Harry always counts:
Harry Styles has proven to be an artist who takes his songcraft seriously, subverting expectations of what a pop star can and should sound like in 2020.
Watch him perform at the Tiny Desk 👇https://t.co/7UNbNyu25P
— NPR (@NPR) March 16, 2020
*As heartwarming as all these videos are, a reader asked me to remind everyone: don’t touch your face (like some of these celebs do) and wash your hands regularly, please. Stay safe!
Photo credit: WENN/Avalon, Instagram, Twitter and Getty Images
Love this!
This is awesome. I want to thank the Democratic hoax committee for their work with the Marital Marshall law that allows us to stay home and enjoy.
Oh non haven’t you heard? Eminem admitted that Marshall Law is not a thing!
Marco is going to be disappointed!
The second feel good story of the day, first Al Rooker wearing stretch pants and now musicians at home doing online performances
I love this! I watched Chris Martin’s yesterday, Pink’s today, and will try to catch the others as well. Pink’s was lovely.
There’s a lot of smaller artists out there doing the same thing, don’t forget to check them out too!
Yes, I have some local musician friends whose shows were canceled and are doing this too,
it’s definitely uplifting, and it’s win-win. the artist gets to play and do it at home, not have to be on the road to serve their fans and the fans get a free, essentially private concert.
This brought a tear to my eye. Love it so much. My music-loving, musician college student who has been banished home for the rest of the semester, is really sad. I have a feeling he might have seen some of this by now but if not maybe today will be a better day for him.
Did anyone else tune in for the Dropkick Murphys? They livestreamed their traditional St Patrick’s Day concert with no audience.
Oh, Yes! I live in an apartment building in NYC and I think my neighbors hated me last night!
I am so stir-crazy at home and there’s only so much tv you can watch, but watching these has really raised my spirits. These are great! They may save my sanity 🙂
Great! Quick somebody get Van Halen on this..
“Right now, In this magic moment, right now..it means everything.”
Nice gesture by the musicians, thanks
Dropkick Murphys live streamed last night.
Stop telling me to not touch my face …. it just makes me want to touch my face even more!!! lol