13 Performances From 'One World: Together At Home' That Made Us Feel Like We Were Back At An IRL Gig
An historic music broadcast event took place over the weekend which saw some of the biggest artists in the world band together for good.
The One World: Together At Home concert, brought to your screens by Global Citizen, raised funds and awareness for COVID-19 relief in an effort to support the frontline health workers. One of the key frontline organisations assisting during this devastating pandemic gripping the world is UNICEF Australia, who are helping children and families cope by providing education, water and sanitation, health, mental wellbeing, and personal safety during the pandemic.
To shine a light on organisations like UNICEF Australia, over the weekend musos did their bit to push the message far and wide in a six-hour online stream followed by a two-hour TV broadcast.
Global Citizen Festival curator, and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, teamed up with Lady Gaga to organise this primo bonanza, which encouraged corporations to put their money where their mouths are and donate to the pandemic relief. Lady Gaga, who kicked off the broadcast, announced that just over AU$200 million in funds had been raised over the course of the campaign, with that money going to regional and local response partners and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
In case you missed this globe-stopping show, let’s take a look at some of the best performances which truly made us feel like we were back in the front-row.
Billie Eilish
Billie and her brother Finneas brought us a cover of ‘Sunny’ by Bobby Hebb to warm our hearts and bring some positivity to the table. Ugh, her voice is just *mwah*
Kesha
Kesha brought us a rendition of her tune ‘Rainbow’ from her custom painted piano. She thanked those who have sacrificed their time to support the pandemic by putting their health on the frontline.
Liam Payne
Coming in from England, Liam Payne sung his recent single ‘Midnight’. He championed the solidarity that’s been birthed from the pandemic and spoke about the silver linings of the situation.
Lizzo
Human beam of sunshine, Lizzo, served us some ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ by Aretha Franklin and we hope that title speaks some “truth”. Hooooo-damn she's got some pipes.
Little Mix
Coming from individual abodes of isolation, the Little Mix girls performed their song ‘Touch’ (ironically, if we do say so ourselves). Even though they're socially distancing, they can still deliver and incredible song as one.
J Lo
J Lo ventured to the her magical garden to realise “how much we all need each other” before taking it away with Barbra Streisand’s ‘People’. Serious Disney vibes here, guys.
Delta Goodrem
Delta Goodrem got up at the crack of Australian dawn to blow the socks off the world with her song ‘Together We Are One’ accompanied by her boyfriend Matt Copley. She garnered a fair bit of social media response after this one because, duh, it's Delta!
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello
Prep your tissues and ice cream in your iso-loneliness as you watch the adorable overload that is Shawn and Camila duetting ‘What A Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong. Maybe an album of these two will be born from quarantine.
Keith Urban (x 3)
Aussie representative Keith Urban gave a pop-country rendition of ‘Higher Love’ by Steve Winwood and somehow managed to feature another TWO Keith Urban clones. The talent!! Also, lowkey digging the phresh kicks there Keith.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga, the mastermind behind the project, kicked off the show with her rendition of ‘Smile’ by Natalie Cole. Shivers. We tell you, absolute ~shivers~ from this performance.
Sam Smith & John Legend
In an unlikely pairing that we wholeheartedly get around, Sam Smith and John Legend gave us ‘Stand By Me’ by Ben E. King. Look at that subtle flex of all of John’s Grammys. We need more of this partnership!
Taylor Swift
Tay took to the piano to play her tune ‘Soon You’ll Get Better’ and you’re right, in a bit of time we’ll get better. It’s a little bit of a sad performance but it makes you feel. We’re here for it.
Billie Joe Armstrong
The frontman of Green Day gave us ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’ with a sombre commentary on life in this new world order.
In a time of restless unease, we took a moment to listen to some quality music that made us forget just for a moment about the state of the world. Music does heal, that's a fact.
We look forward to seeing what Global Citizen does next on their quest as a collective voice to aid the pandemic and also end extreme poverty by 2030.
And as always, stay safe, stay at home and do your bit to help flatten the curve.
This article has been brought to you in partnership with UNICEF Australia, supporting children through the COVID-19 crisis in Australia and the region. You can support by donating to UNICEF Australia here.
Main Image Credit: Licensed by Getty