Eilish, Carey, more sing from home to raise funds for virus
NEW YORK (AP) — Billie Eilish, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys and Dave Grohl opened their doors — literally — as the musicians performed from their homes for an hourlong benefit concert to raise money for those affected by the coronavirus crisis.
Keys kicked off the Sunday’s event — which also honored health professionals and first responders — singing her song “Underdog” from a piano in her home. She thanked those “risking their lives to keep us safe.” Carey, one of the last performers, sang “Always Be My Baby” from her home studio in New York, then told the audience she was going to put on gloves.
Elton John sang and also hosted the special that aired on Fox and iHeartMedia radio stations; he said he hoped “this entertainment will feed and fuel your soul.”
The homebound setting wasn’t a stretch for the home-schooled Eilish, who typically performs live alongside her brother-producer Finneas, who is either on guitar or piano. On Sunday, he strummed along as Eilish sang her No. 1 hit “Bad Guy”from their couch. The concert special came on the one-year anniversary of Eilish’s Grammy-winning debut album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” — which Finneas and Eilish produced and recorded from their home in Los Angeles.
Eilish told viewers she was happy she and her brother could provide “some sort of comfort during the crazy, crazy time.”
The artists were filmed with cell phones, cameras and audio equipment in their homes. The event took place during the time slot that was to belong to the iHeartRadio Music Awards, which became part of a wave of public-event postponements and cancellations because of the pandemic.
Other performers included Tim McGraw, H.E.R. and Sam Smith, who sang “How Do You Sleep” in a cappella form. Dave Grohl sang “My Hero” from his studio in Hawaii, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong strummed his guitar to “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” while Camila Cabello sang “My Oh My”from Miami with a guitar assist from beau Shawn Mendes.
The five members of the Backstreet Boys performed from separate locations to sing their classic hit, “I Want It That Way.” And Demi Lovato sang her emotional song “Skyscraper” while playing piano.
Lady Gaga, Lizzo, Melissa McCarthy, Ryan Seacrest, Ken Jeong and others made special appearances, thanking first responders and telling viewers to practice safe habits like hand-washing and staying home.
“I see a lot of inspiring stories of kindness around the world that are helping to calm everyone’s nerves during this scary time. My heart goes out to people who have lost loved ones and also to people that are losing their jobs,” said Gaga, who postponed the April 10 release of her album “Chromatica,” saying it’s not the right time amid a global fight with the coronavirus. “I just wanted to check in and make sure that you’re finding the time to be kind to yourself and doing whatever you can to maintain your mental helath.”
Like Gaga, other artists have changed release dates on projects because of the virus, and artists have had to cancel or postpone live shows because of socialdistancing mandates.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
Viewers watching Sunday’s concert special were asked to support two of the charitable organizations aiding victims and first responders during the pandemic: Feeding America and Fi r st Responders Children’s Foundation.
Some police officers and health care professionals spoke in between performances, with one ICU nurse in tears as she told viewers about her emotional day treating victims carrying the virus. -AP
Across
1 Composer Francis __ Key 6 Cozy rooms
9 Pacific Standard Time 12 Spread out on the couch 14 Move away
15 Estimated time of arrival 16 Check
17 Lout
19 Tree
21 Short for Pamela 22 Dorothy’s home (abbr.) 23 Lodge
25 Computer
27 Lawman
28 Wail
31 Not amateur 32 Hippopotamus’ nickname 34 Native Americans 36 Travel guides 39 Association (abbr.) 40 Iowa (abbr.)
41 Roman eleven
42 Silence
44 Compass point
45 Central daylight time
48 II
49 Danish krone (abbr.) 52 Shrub with hairy fruit 54 Lead (abbr.)
56 Loudness unit (abbr.) 57 U.S. president’s office 61 Asian starling
63 From Iowa
65 Where zoo animals are kept 67 Cebu university 68 Cosine’s partner 69 Computer science (abbr.) 70 Physician
71 Stinger
72 British Columbia (abbr.) 73 Ship initials
75 Be
77 Football league
79 Stiffen
82 Tap
83 Anger
85 Pilot
87 Artful
88 Body of water
89 ‘70s music
Down
1 Supersonic transport 2 Accountant
3 Bolus
4 British thanks
5 Duos
6 Delaware (abbr.)
7 Black
8 Basketball association 9 Spiritedness
10 Impresses
11 Cotton plug
13 Scale note after sol 18 Solid
20 Kilometers per hour 22 Klu ___ Klan
24 Prophet who built the ark 26 Central Intelligence Agency
28 Negros Or. city
29 An expression
30 Us
33 Letter afterward
35 Clock sound
37 Set
38 Compass point
43 North American Indian 46 Dike
47 Attempt
50 Ku Klux ___
51 Ancient German character
53 __ upon a time
55 Pear type
57 Takes place
58 Liege
59 Silver (abbr.)
60 Limb
62 City in Yemen 64 Wisconsin (abbr.) 66 Curative mineral spring 71 Switzerland city 72 Boulevard (abbr.)
74 Mole
76 River (Spanish)
78 Scale note
79 Oxygen
80 And so forth 81 Constellation
84 Education (abbr.) 86Roman two