You Won’t Believe Why These Grammy Award Winning Artists Give Their Music Away for Free!
On February 10th, the music world will come together to celebrate Tom Petty as MusiCares’ 2017 Person of the Year for his considerable charitable work throughout his legendary career. At Special Olympics, we’ve been celebrating Mr. Petty since 1992— Ever since his song “Christmas All Over Again” was written and recorded for our athletes and headlined our A Very Special Christmas 2 album.
For 30 years some of the biggest names and brightest stars in music have given their time and talent to support one of the most forgotten and misunderstood populations in the world thru the album series “A Very Special Christmas.”
In 1987, legendary music producer Jimmy Iovine aimed to create a tribute album to his late father. Alongside Jimmy was his wife Vicki, and co-producers Bobby Shriver & Paul Marshall. Together, they developed a star-studded album with a mission beyond a one-time tribute. The idea was simple, gather A-list musical stars across a spectrum of genres, ask them to donate a song to fill an album with Christmas music, then sell it with the proceeds enabling children and adults with intellectual disabilities in the poorest communities in the world to join our community of justice and joy.
The resulting A Very Special Christmas series has gone on to be the single most successful benefit recording in musical history.
More importantly, it has enabled millions of people to come together in hundreds of thousands of local games all over the world to celebrate a revolutionary belief in the giftedness of every human being and a relentless commitment to making the world more inclusive and welcoming than ever before.
All of the proceeds from A Very Special Christmas albums benefit Special Olympics athletes, families and communities around the world. Since 1987, the A Very Special Christmas album series has generated over $123.4 million in royalties to benefit the Special Olympics movement.
I like to say that rock ’n’ roll and Special Olympics have one thing in common — they both celebrate raw and authentic expression from the gut. They are both uninhibited in believing in the power of the human spirit. The artists — like the Special Olympics athletes — are role models for believing in yourself, for being reckless in speaking the truth and for trusting the world with your most hopeful and joyful self. Our athletes love rock ’n roll because for them, believing in the truth is a life and death issue. In these albums there’s a message that everyone can play. And everyone must!
It’s that driving belief in the power of the human spirit that inspires our vision for the future of our Movement as we use the proceeds from these albums to grow Special Olympics around the world where it is needed most. The grants disbursed by the Special Olympics Christmas Records Trust have enabled Special Olympics to implement programs worldwide, from the United States to Timor Leste, China to Uganda, Cambodia to Haiti and more. In the United States, these funds have also supported Special Olympics programs in urban areas such as New York City, Philadelphia and New Orleans.
A Very Special Christmas has given Special Olympics the power to forever change lives. The series has awoken the world to another type of music: the rousing cheers of proud parents and friends, where once there was only the stifling silence of ignorance and fear. And we have plenty of room for more to join us in our songs of celebration, justice and joy!
Get all your favorite songs from A Very Special Christmas!
**Interested in donating to the athletes of Special Olympics? ALL donations made through the month of December will be DOUBLED!**
