Artists to raise funds with anthems
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For Grammy-winning international star Angelique Kidjo, her artistry and her activism inform each other because music has the power to connect beyond skin color, language or countries.
“Music has that absolutely powerful side to it that sometimes when I finish a concert, I’m like, ‘Why can’twe just live like this?’” said the singer-songwriter fromBenin.
That sentiment is something that SkipMarley, a third-generation musician and grandson of reggae icon BobMarley, has grown up knowing aswell.
“We’re talking to the people, so it’s all colors, all religions,” he said. “Music is music. That’s the beauty of it. It cuts through all of those barriers or borders.”
These musicians are part of an online fundraising concert Dec. 1 called Peace ThroughMusic: AGlobal Event For Social Justice, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of theUnitedNations.
TheFacebook Live event will also feature performances byAnnie Lennox, BeckyG, Brandi Carlile and MikeMcCready of Pearl Jam, Carlos Santana, Gary Clark Jr., Mavis Staples, Ringo Starr, Run The Jewels, SheilaE, Yo-Yo Ma and more. The event will raise money for the Playing forChange Foundation, theUnitedNations Population Fund, Sankofa, Silkroad and theRock& RollHall of FameFoundation.
Kidjo, whois aUNICEF goodwill ambassador, is an outspoken advocate for women’s rights and education for youngwomen in Africa through her Batonga Foundation. Kidjo has traveled theworld to encourage young people to be leaders in their own communities because she says that is the leverage
needed to address systematic issues of poverty and climate change.
“We’ve created aworld with billions of people suffering and a minority of people are living on top of them. And ifwewant to live in aworld of peace, we have to take care ofMother Nature and at the same time take care to get people out of poverty,” said Kidjo.
For the online concert, Kidjo teamed up remotely with cellistYo-YoMa and Peter Gabriel to sing Gabriel’s anti-apartheid anthem “Biko.”
“Racism is so linked to capitalism, andwe have failed to address that issue for somany, many, many years and centuries, I think fromslavery all theway to today, that it becomes a cancer that is eating our societies,” saidKidjo.
“GetUp, StandUp,” a simple message that has become part of Bob Marley’s legacy to the world, was the obvious
song choice for his grandson to sing.
“Wherever there is a fight, wherever there is oppression, wherever there iswrongdoing, there will always be that anthem,” saidMarley, whoperformed the song with his mother, Cedella Marley.
It’s a spiritual experience to sing his grandfather’s songs, Marley said.
“Those are the songs I first hear, and the songs I first sing,” saidMarley. “So when I’m singing it, I’m feelingmy grandfather.”
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