Lady Gaga raises over $127m to fight coronavirus with ‘One World’ concert – Watch the performances
The One World: Together At Home virtual concert was curated by Lady Gaga and featured performers including Elton John, Sam Smith, Celine Dion and Lizzo.
By Tim Heap
Lady Gaga and Global Citizen’s One World: Together At Home virtual concert raised almost $128 million (£100m) for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 relief fund.
The pop icon announced her involvement with the project, which saw dozens of celebrity performances live-streamed around the world, a couple of weeks ago – at which point she’d personally raised $35 million to tackle the pandemic.
As curator of the historic broadcast – which aired on Saturday night and was followed up with an edited UK version on BBC One last night (Sunday) – Gaga is reported to have set up a special “war room” from which to facilitate planning.
Her upcoming sixth album, Chromatica, was delayed amidst the coronavirus pandemic as the 34-year-old decided to use her platform to support the fightback.
Amongst the One World: Together At Home performers were many LGBTQ stars and allies to the community – check out some of the highlights below, and the full YouTube playlist here.
Elton John
Rocketman himself tinkled the ivories for a rousing rendition of survivor anthem ‘I’m Still Standing’, following an introduction by Posh and Becks.
Christine and the Queens
The Attitude Award winner and former cover star popped up twice to perform ‘Mountains We Met’ and ‘People I’ve Been Sad Lately’.
Lady Gaga
The host-with-the-most gave us all the feels with her version of ‘Smile’, with Mother Monster reminding us slightly of Hollywood icon Judy Garland.
Lizzo
Lizzo served up some feel-good gospel truth with her cover of ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’. Feel the goosebumps!
Kacey Musgraves
Inspired by the rainbows that have been appearing in art form around the world as a message of hope since the pandemic began, country star and LGBTQ ally Kacey Musgraves performed her hit ‘Rainbow’.
Sam Smith and John Legend
EGOT John Legend was joined by Sam Smith for a duet of Ben E. King’s beloved standard ‘Stand By Me’.
Adam Lambert
The American Idol star adapted the lyrics to his 2019 track ‘Superpower’ for a COVID-19-appropriate performance.
Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Lady Gaga, Lang Lang and John Legend
A supergroup is born for a poignant rendition of ‘The Prayer’, originally performed by Dion and Bocelli for the 1998 film ‘Quest for Camelot’.
Kesha
The bisexual pop star belted out her 2017 comeback hit ‘Praying’ – and yes, she hit that note.
Ben Platt
A bearded Ben Platt – of Ryan Murphy’s The Politician, Pitch Perfect and Broadway fame – performed two tracks for the broadcast; a cover of The Beatles’ ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ and his own track ‘Bad Habit’.
Taylor Swift
TayTay chose to perform her Lover track ‘Soon You’ll Get Better’ – originally written about her mother’s battle with cancer, but here with a message about a world needing to heal.
Little Mix
For the BBC’s version of the broadcast, which saw other UK artists recording special live performances and footage of NHS frontline workers, Little Mix linked up to give an acoustic rendition of ‘Touch’ – giving us harmonies for days.