The event, in the night from Saturday 18 to Sunday 19 April, was the opportunity to discover the stars playing at home, in the privacy of their living room, like many musicians who started to give private concerts on social networks, from their kitchen or their terrace.
The four members of the Rolling Stones played their hit You Can’t Always Get What You Want. Lhe video of each one appearing on a screen divided into four, Charlie Watts improvising a battery with objects around him, Mick Jagger launching a kiss at the camera at the end.
Taylor Swift opted for a sober piano interpretation of Soon You’ll Get Better. “You are heroes … We will be eternally grateful to you for the sacrifices you have made to preserve the health of the community”, launched actress Sarah Jessica Parker, heroine of the series Sex and the City, in one of these multiple interventions carried out by the stars of their place.
Many celebrities participated in this online gala, including Christine and the Queens or Annie Lennox, before a concert broadcast on major American channels, with a string of stars on display: Billie Eilish, Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Céline Dion, Paul McCartney or Stevie Wonder who took over Lean on Me in tribute to Bill Withers, died April 3.
“A love letter to the world”
Before this show she imagined, Lady Gaga explained that the event should be seen as a “Love letter to the world”, in order to ” bring together “ faced with this disease that has caused the deaths of approximately 160,000 people. “We can do something to bring joy and a little respite to the four corners of the planet”, she estimated.
The virtual world concert “One World: Together at Home” (“A world: together at home”), supported by the Global Citizen movement in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), wanted to be a “Rallying cry” for caregivers and local non-governmental organizations. Some 35 million dollars (more than 32 million euros) have been raised to help organizations involved in the management of the health crisis.
With at least 4.5 billion people forced or encouraged to stay at home to fight the spread of the coronavirus, the party started with a first six-hour show, which can be viewed via streaming on the Internet.
Global Citizen also intends to urge donors and governments to support WHO in its response to the coronavirus. “Music gives us the opportunity to take a break and reflect to unite in one and the same humanity”, President and CEO of Global Citizen Hugh Evans told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
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