One World: Together At Home
I remember when Live Aid was on television in 1985. Today’s concert reminded me of that epic moment when so many artists came together for a common purpose.
The event, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the nonprofit group Global Citizen, was the biggest celebrity effort so far to mark the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 150,000 people worldwide.
Although there has already been some press on how lousy the event was, claiming “it made us feel even worse about our already miserable circumstances”, I liked it. I had some tears flowing periodically through the two hour event as various artists tugged at my heart strings.
One of those moments for me was when Stevie Wonder did a tribute to Bill Withers (who recently passed on March 30th) singing the infamous “Lean On Me”. I am also a sucker for “Stand By Me”, the song I chose for our wedding right after we said our vows, which was performed by John Legend and Sam Smith. What an incredible duet it was!
Louis Armstrong’s classic “What A Wonderful World” was beautifully performed by couple Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes. I would be hard pressed to say which of their voices were more lovely.
I really enjoyed the magic of modern technology as well. The Rolling Stones did a great job of coordinating “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” from four separate locations. Keith Urban looped himself on three different guitars while performing Steve Winwood’s hit “Higher Love”. I thought it was very clever.
In anticipation of writing this review, I was going to mention all of the performers that volunteered their time. That is, until my list became four pages long! Way too many to mention them all, sadly, as I really could go on and on.
Another great feature was how the entire event was interspersed with kind and meaningful words from so many celebrities and important figures of our time: Oprah, former U.S. first ladies Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, Ellen DeGeneres, and Melinda & Bill Gates, to name a few.
Finally, and possibly most importantly, the event was nicely rounded out with many examples of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They were wonderful reminders of how far the human spirit can reach during a time of need.
If you didn’t get a chance yourself to enjoy the event, set some time aside for it. You can view it on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Amazon Prime — plus many other platforms.
Thank you Lady Gaga for curating the event, and thank you World Health Organization and Global Citizen, and everyone who contributed and made this possible.
