Music  

Lady Gaga, Legend, Burna Boy, Others For Campaign Against COVID-19

By Chuks Nwanne

11 April 2020   |   4:44 am

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Building on the success of the digital series of One World: Together at Home, Global Citizen and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are partnering for a special one-night event of the same name...

Burna Boy

Building on the success of the digital series of One World: Together at Home, Global Citizen and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are partnering for a special one-night event of the same name, which will screen across BET/Comedy Central/MTV/MTV base on Sunday, April 19. On MTV Base, DStv channel 322 and GOtv channel 72, it would air by 1am (WAT), with a repeat broadcast same day by 8pm (WAT).

Launched with Chris Martin of Coldplay on March 16, 2020, Together at Home has become an outlet for artistes to share music with their fans for a purpose to educate and inform millions around WHO’s critical effort to prevent, detect and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, One World: Together at Home is not a charity event, but a broad global entertainment special to support the World Health Organisation and the global fight to end COVID-19. The show will feature A-list superstars such as Burna Boy, Lady Gaga, John Legend, Billie Eilish, Elton John, Finneas, Idris and Sabrina Elba, Jimmy Fallon, and more.

The two-hour program will be hosted by marquee personalities from each of the major networks. It will include both live and pre-taped performances from the world’s most prominent artists with multimillion-naira pledges to the WHO’s Solidarity Response Fund.

The show will lift viewer’s spirits in these trying times with exclusive and unique cameos from the worlds of music and arts, sports superstars, and comedic sketches, while always drawing back to its core purpose to educate and inform on COVID-19 risks, prevention and response. The broadcast will also feature interviews with experts from WHO as well as stories of frontline healthcare workers from around the world.

With the confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States rising each day, the rich and famous aren’t staying quiet about their diagnoses. Instead, celebrities are speaking out on social media not only to keep fans informed but in some cases, to urge followers to stay home in order to help reduce the risk of transmission.

Bold-faced names from professional athletes (Kevin Durant) to politicians (Miami’s Mayor Francis Suarez) to big- and small-screen stars (Daniel Dae Kim) and even royals (Prince Albert II) are among those, who have opened up about having tested positive for COVID-19. Musicians have been no different, sharing tales of their symptoms and quarantine.

Singer Pink revealed on April 3, via social media that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

“Two weeks ago, my three-year-old son, Jameson, and I were showing symptoms of COVID-19. Fortunately, our primary care physician had access to tests and I tested positive,” she wrote in a post that went up on both Twitter and Instagram.

“My family was already sheltering at home and continued to do so for the last two weeks following the instruction of our doctor. Just a few days ago, we were re-tested and are now thankfully negative.”

Also, Singer-songwriter Christopher Cross revealed same day that he was diagnosed with the coronavirus. The five-time Grammy winner shared the news in a lengthy Facebook post.

“I’m sorry to report that I’m among the growing number of Americans, who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus,” he wrote. “Although I am fortunate enough to be cared for at home, this is possibly the worst illness I’ve ever had.”

On the other hand, singer and actress Sara Bareilles also revealed in her Instagram stories that she had contracted the coronavirus, but is okay.

“I had it, just so you know. I’m fully recovered, just so you know,” she explained in a video of her taking a walk. “I am just thinking about all of the people who are walking through this really tricky time and sending a lot of love and just being really grateful for every easy breath and every day that I get to be walking around.”

The 65-year-old guitarist and Grammy-winning producer, Larry Campbell told Rolling Stone on April 2, that his coronavirus experience began with a cough he attributed to pollen. He then had a high fever and soon tested positive for COVID-19.

“I’m still trying to assess all this. For the past two weeks, I’ve been struggling to stay alive. It really is that serious,” he said. “That makes you reassess what you’re doing here. I haven’t been able to touch or hold Teresa, or even look at her, this whole time. We’ve been on the phone constantly. It makes me see how valuable our relationship is.”