ARTISTS GIVE BACK IN TIME OF NEED (UPDATE)

Rihanna's Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) and Twitter/Square CEO Jack Dorsey have announced a joint grant to the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles, to address the current crisis for domestic violence victims in L.A. as a result of the COVID-19 "stay at home" order. CLF and Dorsey will co-fund this effort, each committing $2.1m for a total donation of $4.2m.

Elton John's Elton John AIDS Foundation has launched a $1m COVID-19 Emergency Fund, "to make sure that our frontline partners can respond to the effects of COVID-19 on HIV care for the most marginalized communities around the world,” said John.

P!nk said that she and her 3-year-old son had tested positive for coronavirus two weeks ago, but have now recovered, and that she will donate $1m to two emergency healthcare funds.

“This illness is serious and real. People need to know that the illness affects the young and old, healthy and unhealthy, rich and poor, and we must make testing free and more widely accessible to protect our children, our families, our friends and our communities,” said P!nk.

The singer will donate $500k to Philadelphia’s Temple University Hospital Emergency Fund, where her mother worked for 18 years, and $500k to the L.A. Mayor’s Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund. “Thank you to all of our healthcare professionals and everyone in the world who are working so hard to protect our loved ones,” P!nk concluded in a statement.

Fall Out Boy has announced a $100k donation from their Fall Out Boy Fund to the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund. The fund is a partnership between the City of Chicago and the United Way of Metro Chicago, to swiftly deploy resources to agencies that can reach individuals and families impacted by COVID-19.

Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy said, “Chicago is the city that we grew up in. It’s important to us that we give back, and support the community and local heroes who are on the front lines. No act of kindness is too small right now. Check in with the people you love. Support the businesses you love if you can. Stay vigilant and hopeful. Everyone is affected by this, and we win by coming together and thinking of the world as bigger of ourselves.”

Metallica’s All Within My Hands foundation has made four grants totaling $350k to organizations dedicated to assisting those hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. AWMH has pledged $100k apiece to Feeding America, Direct Relief and Crew Nation and $50k to the Bartender Emergency Assistance Program.

Metallica has also launched its fundraising Metallica Mondays streaming series in which a full concert from the Metallica video archives is broadcast every Monday at 5pm PT/8pm ET via Facebook Live and YouTube.

Rihanna’s CLF and Jay-Z’s Shawn Carter Foundation have donated a combined $2m to support undocumented workers, the children of frontline health workers and first responders, and incarcerated, elderly and homeless populations in New York City and Los Angeles during the COVID-19 crisis.

This new round of emergency funding will support a variety of efforts led by organizations including the Mayor’s Fund for L.A., ACLU and the New York immigration Coalition.

The MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund recently received donations from UMG, WMG, The Latin Recording Academy, Bill Silva Entertainment, Alicia Keys and She Is The Music, George Harrison's The Material World Foundation, the William, Jeff and Jennifer Gross Family Foundation, the Michael Jackson Estate, the Yoshiki Foundation America and StubHub.

"It's incredible to see how many within the music industry have continued to show support for COVID-19 Relief efforts," said Steve Boom, chair of MusiCares. "The impacts of this virus are very real, as many struggle to know where their next rent payment is coming from, or how next week's groceries are going to be paid for. Our fund is there to help meet those needs as much as it can, and every gesture of support counts."

James Taylor and his wife, Kim, have donated $1m to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston to help with its battle against the spread of the virus. The gift will help the hospital to purchase supplies and equipment, and to research treatments for and prevention of COVID-19.

“There is no question that it’s a point of pride for New Englanders to claim the MGH as their hospital – our hospital – and this is especially true today with the threat coming from a new and insidious virus,” Taylor said in a statement. “Kim and I...have been so inspired by the courage and sacrifice of the health care heroes in the trenches who are working so hard to protect us all.”

Dhani Harrison, along with his late father George Harrison's The Material World Foundation, has donated $500k to three charities, MusiCares' COVID-19 Relief Fund, Save the Children and Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), to help their respective efforts in providing care amid the coronavirus crisis.

The Harrison's foundation has also launched "The Inner Light Challenge," which fans can contribute to in order to help raise additional funds. The Material World Foundation will donate another $1 (up to $100k) for every one who shares their own "Inner Light" moment on social media using the hashtag #innerlight2020. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh, Rita Wilson, Jim James, Mike Campbell, Jewel, Young the Giant, Lukas and Micah Nelson, Susanna Hoffs, Richard Marx, Daniel Lanois and more have all put their support behind the challenge.

Taylor Swift took a slightly different approach, by sending "Swiftie Stimulus" checks or online payments directly to some of her out-of-work fans, who were in disbelief upon receipt of the money. Swift noticed on her Twitter and Instagram that many of her fans were going through a difficult time, so she took it upon herself to send a handful of them a personal note and some much-needed cash, reportedly $3k each to at least 10 of her devoted Swifties. Taylor also surprised Nashville record store Grimey's, who had to send its employees home after the city’s mayor issued a stay-at-home order, by offering to supply the shop with money for each employee and three months’ worth of health care, a move greatly appreciated by Grimey’s co-owner Doyle Davis.

In a related move, Michelle Obama and her voter registration organization When We All Vote teamed with Brooklyn DJ D-Nice for an online dance party on 3/25. 61k fans joined the livestreamed #CouchParty on Instagram, attended by Timbaland, Oprah and Amy Schumer, resulting in 13k new voter registrations. When We All Vote is a non-profit, nonpartisan org that aims to raise participation in every election, and was founded in 2018.