Plenty of drops in the ocean
January 28, 2022

Rihanna donates $15 million to fight climate change

Rihanna has donated $15 million to the Climate Justice Alliance, the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Movement for Black Lives, and 15 other organizations that work to restore climate justice in the United States and Rihanna’s home – the Caribbean. “Climate disasters, which are growing in frequency and intensity, do not impact all communities equally, with communities of color and island nations facing the brunt of climate change,” Rihanna says in a statement announcing her support.

Global Citizen Live concert that featured performances from Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Lopez, BTS and Elton John and dozens of other stars, raised more than $1.1 billion in commitments and pledges over the weekend to fight extreme poverty, Billboard reports. It secured pledges from France for 60 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for developing countries, corporate pledges for planting 157 million trees around the world, and the U.S. government pledged $295 million for humanitarian needs around the world caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Major philanthropic commitments came from the Lego Foundation, who pledged $150 million to support UNICEF and other partners working with children, and Rotary International, which pledged $98 million in grant funding in 2022.

Beauty behind the madness
April 05, 2021

The Weeknd donates $1m in food aid to Ethiopia

“My heart breaks for my people of Ethiopia as innocent civilians ranging from small children to the elderly are being senselessly murdered and entire villages are being displaced out of fear and destruction” - The Weeknd wrote on Instagram announcing his donation of $1m in food aid to Ethiopia, amid the ongoing conflict in the country’s Tigray region. This $1 million will provide 2 million meals through the United Nations World Food Program, CNN reports. The singer was born Abel Tesfaye in Canada to Ethiopian immigrant parents, Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye.

Taylor Swift and her mom Andrea donated $50,000 to Vickie Quarles, the mother of five daughters whose husband, Theodis Ray Quarles, died of COVID-19, according to Yahoo News. Their donation through GoFundMe fundraiser raised the total amount to over $62,000. Previously, in December, the singer donated $13,000 to two mothers who were struggling to pay their bills during the pandemic. In March of last year, Swift sent checks to her longtime fans who had lost their jobs during the ongoing crisis. She also donated money to Nashville record store Grimey's New and Preloved Music to pay and provide healthcare for each of the retailer's employees for three months.

That plant needs watering
December 02, 2020

Spotify donates $500,000 to U.S. indie venues

Spotify has donated $500,000 to the National Independent Venue Association in a show of solidarity with music venues in the U.S. that aren't part of a conglomerated promotion apparatus such as Live Nation or AEG. The donation comes at a critical time for indie venues across the U.S. as they face a long winter without live shows, possibly even well into the next year as well. Spotify's half-million-dollar donation is the second-largest that NIVA has received since its inception - only Anheuser-Busch has given more, $1 million.That plant needs watering

A bass guitar and effects pedal used by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, signed guitars from Liam Gallagher, Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler, handwritten lyrics from Florence Welch, Robbie Williams, and Ellie Goulding, a mixing desk from Craig David, and a signed synth from Chemical Brothers are all on sale at an online auction with the aim to help live events industry workers. Stagehand auction also includes memorabilia from Sam Smith, Jess Glynn and FKA Twigs, with more constantly being added, NME reports. Also benefiting the Stagehand initiative will be Prints for Music, a sale of more than 100 intimate photographs of stars including Grace Jones, Neil Young and Fela Kuti. Today, a £10,000 box set by Porcupine Tree' Steven Wilson, limited to a single copy, was sold at an auction, with proceeds from the one-off item going to Music Venue Trust, the charity lobbying for the UK’s grassroots venues under threat amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A$AP Rocky donated 120 meals to families at a homeless shelter in New York where he, his mother and sister spent some time nearly two decades ago. The rapper, real name Rakim Mayers, personally turned delivery man on Thanksgiving eve on Wednesday to distribute the food from one of his favourite eateries in New York, Amy Ruth's Restaurant in Harlem, according to People. The 32-year-old musician gifted the food to the Regent Family Residence - a homeless shelter that serves 83 families, including 111 children - where his mum, Renee Black, stayed after falling on hard times in the early 2000s.

I will always fund you
November 18, 2020

Dolly Parton helped fund Covid-19 vaccine

Dolly Parton donated $1 million to biotechnology company Moderna based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts to help them fund research for Covid-19 vaccine, which they recently announced as finished, Guardian reports. Parton heard about the project last spring through her friend Dr. Naji Abumrad from Vanderbilt University who treated her after a car accident. Vanderbilt’s research subsequently played a key role in developing Moderna’s vaccine.

He's got the power
November 02, 2020

Composer with dementia inspires £1m donation

A viral video of Paul Harvey, 80, a former music teacher with dementia, performing a piece based on just four notes, has inspired a £1m charity donation from Scotland's first ever billionaire Sir Tom Hunter. Mr Harvey is suffering from dementia, but has continued to be able to play and compose piano pieces. His improvisation, 'Four Notes' has also reached the top of the iTunes and Amazon charts last week.

Good men show up from out of nowhere
October 11, 2020

Beautiful South's Paul Heaton paid Q Magazine staff when the paper closed

Ted Kessler, final editor of Q Magazine has praised Beautiful South singer Paul Heaton for his generosity, revealing how Heaton supported staff when the publication closed, BBC reports. Kessler explained how the star made a large donation to the magazine this summer, which was shared amongst 40 staff and freelancers working for Q at the time. "It was just meant to make sure people weren't left on their arse" - Heaton said.

Lebanese musician, producer, engineer, and studio-owner Fadi Tabbal has launched the Beirut Musicians’ Fund to help local artists replace their gear damaged, lost, or destroyed in the explosion on August 4. The fund attempts to raise exactly $34,935, and all donations will be managed by Tunefork Recording Studios and divided evenly among those affected by the blast.

UK rapper Stormzy has donated £500,000 to fund educational scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, BBC reports. His gift to the Black Heart Foundation is the first major funding arrangement since he pledged £10m to help organisations that are dedicated to fighting racial inequality in the UK in this decade. Stormzy’s £500,000 donation will cover the cost of awarding cash grants to about 50 students.

Well, that's quite a big umbrella she's got
June 20, 2020

Rihanna and Twitter boss donate $15 million toward mental health services

Rihanna's nonprofit The Clara Lionel Foundation has partnered with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to donate $15 million (£12 million) towards mental health services amid the ongoing social unrest and the coronavirus pandemic, People. It's the latest in a series of donations from the pop superstar and tech leader, with Rihanna's foundation alone donating more than $36 million towards coronavirus relief to date.

Blood Orange's Dev Hynes

Universal Music Group has established a $25 million “Change Fund” that will be invested across six areas of focus, including aid/charitable giving, global, internal/institutional change, legislative/public policy, partners and programming/curation, Billboard reports. Spotify has pledged to match $10 million in donations, after being called out by its employers, and give $1 million worth of advertising to social justice groups, Digital Music News reports. Blood Orange's Dev Hynes helped raise $500,000 in just two days, with a limited edition t-shirt, Uproxx reports.

Post Malone is about to donate $1 million to a number of charities supporting front-line workers, education initiatives, homelessness help, mental health work, and he wants his fans to decide which organizations exactly, Billboard reports. He’s using the celebrity fan platform Community to round up the responses and decide where to send the $1 million, purportedly from his own personal funds. Last week he performed s Nirvana tribute show, raising over $800,000 for the United Nations Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

Beyoncé has teamed up with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s relief fund #startsmall to make a donation of $6m for mental health and other initiatives during the coronavirus outbreak, Yahoo! Lifestyle reports. Beyoncé said mental burdens were accelerating for people who can’t access basic necessities during the crisis. She also gave support to a range of charities providing those necessities, including food, water, cleaning supplies, medicines, face masks and personal hygiene items.

Rapper Lil Dicky is celebrating the first anniversary of his animated short film 'Earth' by donating $800,000 to help combat climate change and contribute to COVID-19 relief, All Hip Hop reports. "The fight to save this planet isn't even close to over, and we're going to have to amplify our efforts way more to turn this thing around. Because pretty soon, it'll be too late" - Lil Dicky said, adding - "even though times have never been scarier with the COVID-19 pandemic, it has shown me something: that we can modify our day-to-day behavior to adapt to a crisis when it's right in front of us". Rapper and entrepreneur Sean "Diddy" Combs has linked with The National Bankers Association to launch a new platform "Our Fair Share" to help minority-owned small businesses get access to the second round of Paycheck Protection Program Funding, PR Newswire reports.

Kanye West's charitable collaboration has partnered with Chic-fil-A to help Christian non-profit the Los Angeles Dream Center provide food and other items to those in need since March. This partnership has helped provide more than 14,000 meals every single day, 300,000 meals in total to the needy in Los Angeles, CBN reports. In similar news, Cash Money’s Bryan "Birdman" Williams has offered to pay the rent for people hit hard by the devasting coronavirus pandemic in New Orleans, All Hip Hop reports.

Preferably, for the cannabis farms
April 16, 2020

Willie Nelson's Virtual Farm Aid raises $500,000 for American farmers

Last weekend's virtual Farm Aid benefit live concert, hosted by Willie Nelson, raised more than $500,000 to support American family farmers and ranchers affected by the coronavirus crisis, Billboard reports. It featured at-home performances from Willie Nelson and his sons, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews. Previously, 33-hour ReConnect livestream in March raised $185,000 for various relief nonprofits; Twitch's 12-hour Stream Aid event, featuring artists like Steve Aoki and Diplo, raised $2.8 million for the World Health Organization (WHO); iHeart Living Room Concert For America raised another $10 million; upcoming One World: Together at Home special, which airs April 18, has already raised $35 million to support healthcare workers.

U2 have pledged to donate €10 million for personal protective equipment (PPE) for Irish frontline medics in the fight against coronavirus. “I just don’t think this is the moment for U2 to be doing a sort of Kumbaya thing", Bono said The Irish Times - "It just doesn’t feel right for me – it feels like a time for action rather than words”.

Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation has donated $2,1 million to help victims of domestic violence in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order. It's a joint donation with Twitter/Square CEO Jack Dorsey who has also committed $2.1 million to the fund ($4.2 million when put together). According to Vulture, an estimated 90 people per week have been turned away from full shelters since the stay-at-home order went into effect last month. The joint grant is expected to cover 90 domestic violence victims per week through 10 weeks.

Approximately 40,000 masks will go to Tennessee, 50,000 to Rikers Island in New York, and 5,000 to Parchman in Mississippi. Additionally, 2,500 masks were sent to Rikers Island's medical facility, CBS reports. The rappers' donation will help protect staff and inmates from the spread of COVID-19, which has increased significantly in correctional facilities because prisoners live in crowded quarters and are unable to practice social distancing. Last week, rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine - who suffers from chronic asthma, putting him at increased risk for catching the virus - was released from jail and will serve the remaining four months of his sentence under home confinement.

Madonna has donated $1 million to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help fund research into creating a coronavirus vaccine. Pink, who recovered from coronavirus just recently, has pledged $500,000 to Philadelphia’s Temple University Hospital Fund, and $500,000 to the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund. Metallica's charitable foundation, All Within My Hands, has announced four grants totaling $350,000 to Feeding America, Direct Relief, Crew Nation and the USBG National Charity Foundation. R'n'b singer H.E.R. has provided her team with money to support them over the coming months.

Let the example spread virally
March 23, 2020

Rihanna donates $5 million to coronavirus response efforts

Rihanna has donated $5 million through her organization, the Clara Lionel Foundation, to help aid countries affected by COVID-19, CNN reports. The donation by the singer, businesswoman, and philanthropist will support local food banks serving at-risk communities in the United States, the acceleration of testing and care in nations such as Haiti and Malawi, and essential equipment for healthcare workers and facilities. It will also assist with healthcare training including virus prevention and containment. Barbados will also be receiving $700,000 worth of ventilators.