Keith Urban, Lady Gaga front One World: Together At Home concert for coronavirus
Australian country star Keith Urban is ‘beside myself’ ahead of his performance during the historic One World: Together at Home online concert.
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Keith Urban chuckles as he shares a cryptic clue about his performance for the One World: Together At Home performance this weekend.
“The only thing I can tell you about my performance is I am beside myself to see this performance,” he says from his home in Nashville, where he is bunkered down with wife Nicole Kidman and their daughters Sunday and Faith.
The Australian country music superstar broadcast his first virtual gig – with the assistance of “home roadie” and dancing fangirl Kidman – on March 18 as governments banned mass gatherings as the coronavirus pandemic spread.
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The day after, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin launched the Together At Home cyber concert series, a joint venture between humanitarian advocacy group Global Citizen and the World Health Organisation to reinforce the Stay At Home message.
Since then, dozens of artists including Australian stars Guy Sebastian, Amy Shark, Cody Simpson, Vance Joy and Tash Sultana have entertained self-isolating fans with their half-hour sets.
Who you gonna call?
Then Lady Gaga got involved, courtesy of a phone call made by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to the pop star’s mum Cynthia Germanotta, who was named a mental health goodwill ambassador last year.
Within a week, Gaga and the Global Citizen team headed by Australian co-founder and CEO Hugh Evans, had hit up corporations including rival soft drink brands Coca-Cola and Pepsi, to pledge more than $55 million for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and local charities throughout the world.
And they announced the global One World concert, working the phones to booking dozens of artists, comedians, actors and television personalities for a six-hour live stream and two-hour televised concert.
The list kept growing to include the who’s who of the entertainment industry including our own Urban and Delta Goodrem, alongside Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Celine Dion, Eddie Vedder, Taylor Swift, Stevie Wonder, Lizzo, J Balvin, J Lo, Victoria and David Beckham and Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong.
“Tedros rang me and said he had just off the phone with Cynthia and she was on a board. I thought ‘OK … that will be interesting’ and a few days later, Lady Gaga's manager Bobby Campbell rang and said was on board, she she wanted to play and take it to the next level,” Evans said.
“What I admire about working with her and her team is she is so involved creatively, it’s extraordinary, from which artists would perform to how the animations work in the special. Bringing Sesame Street in was her idea, right down to which songs the artists would sing and why.
“The second thing is she has always put the mission first and that everything we are doing is about the community health workers and supporting them.”
One for the frontline
Evans said they wanted to focus on enlisting corporations and philanthropists for their fundraising efforts for frontline health workers with One World rather than putting the onus for donations on fans, particularly when millions have lost their jobs because of the global shutdown to stop the spread of the virus.
The historic benefit, which begins streaming at 4am AEST with the main television concert from 10am on Sunday, comes as President Donald Trump announced the US would halt its funding to WHO over its handling of the pandemic, undermining its work to stop the spread in developing countries.
“Bill Gates put it well when he said halting funding for WHO during the health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,” Evans said.
One World is being hailed as the Live Aid of this decade, a truly global event which crosses genres and borders.
As well as pop stars, country music is hugely represented lead by Urban, Kacey Musgraves and Billy Ray Cyrus.
Genre and border free
Urban has been devoting his “spare” time because of the halt in touring schedule to finish his new record at his home studio and play “intense” games of Apples To Apples with his wife and daughters, as well as his impromptu concert streams.
He sees his role in the One World effort to offer “silver lining moments” for people gripped by the darkness of the pandemic.
“We are very, very aware of the duality of this life now, where you have people going through absolute hell because of this virus, the health care workers and those behind the scenes,” he said.
“At the same time, you have these blessings with families getting to spend more time together and we just want to bring a little bit of joy and relief to people in any way we can and that’s what I can do, what I can bring to this time.”
Also scheduled to appear during the One World broadcasts are revered Italian stars Andrea Bocelli and Zucchero will represent the European nation which was the first to suffer huge loss of life and infections.
The Live Aid of the 2020s
With the world’s Spanish-speaking community also among the biggest at-risk groups throughout the US and South America – and Spain itself among the hardest hit countries, Latin artists including J Balvin, Maluma, Luis Fonsi and Juanes will also be featured during Sunday’s event.
Reggaeton chart-topper Balvin, who has become a global superstar since be crossed over with his smash Mi Gente, has just released his new record Colores as many artists shift their albums to later in the year.
“It is beautiful to see that music, no matter what, is one of the big lifters of emotion,” Balvin said from his home in Columbia.
“I’m happy we dropped this album and the videos now – we didn’t know that coronavirus would happen when we planned this, but I think it was the best decision.
“The fans have had an opportunity to really listen to it and I am super grateful for that.”
He is also proving a big hit with the kids right now, starring as the reggaeton troll Tresillo in the new film Trolls World Tour.
Balvin is no stranger to the big gigs, as the only non-family or Destiny’s Child member to share Beyonce’s stage during her Homecoming performance at Coachella and also had his moment to shine when J Lo and Shakira delivered their booty-shaking Superbowl halftime set in February.
“That was a huge, huge statement, a chance to be a part of history,” he said of Superbowl.
“But I won’t be performing because it would be technically hard to do but talking about how we are dealing with the virus in Colombia.”
How to watch One World
The One World: Together At Home live stream runs from 4am to 10am (AEST) on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Twitch.
The live televised concert, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, airs from 10am to midday on Channel 10 and simulcast on 10 Play and radio stations KIIS 1065, KIIS 101.1, 97.3FM Brisbane, Mix 102.3 Adelaide and iHeartRadio
You can also watch the concert replayed from 6pm on Foxtel’s MTV Australia channel.
For all the artists and entertainers participating or other viewing options, check globalcitizen.org/togetherathome