One World Concert Thanks Coronavirus-Battling Health Workers

MORE than 100 artists and personalities from the world of music, entertainment, and politics came together in a special One World concert on Saturday to thank health workers battling the coronavirus.

The live-streamed event, organised by the World Health Organisation with non-profit group Global Citizen, lasted eight hours and included social media performances and speeches – with messages of hope, and gratitude towards health professionals

It finished in a two-hour concert that was put together by Lady Gaga, and featured stars like the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder singing from their homes.

Lady Gaga called the event “a love letter to the world”.

Dedicating the show to first responders and medical staff, she said the participating musicians all wanted “to give back a little bit of the kindness that you’ve given us”.

She went on to play an upbeat version of Charlie Chaplin’s Smile, adding: “We want to get to the other side of this pandemic and we know you do too.”

Paul McCartney joined the programme shortly after, calling health-care workers “the real heroes” of the crisis and remembering his mother Mary, who was a nurse during the Second World War.

Taylor Swift gave an emotional performance of her ballad Soon You’ll Get Better, sat against the pastel-coloured floral backdrop of the piano room in her house.

The whole event began with a montage of people under lockdown applauding the efforts of healthcare workers around the world – from France, Spain, the UK, the US and elsewhere.

“To all of our frontline healthcare workers, we are with you. Thank you for being there for us,” read an on-screen caption.

Proceeds generated from the concert will go to the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the WHO, but Lady Gaga made it clear the show was not a fundraising telethon and would focus on entertainment and messages of solidarity.

The event show closed with Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Andrea Bocelli and John Legend collaborating on a version of The Prayer, which was composed for the 1998 film Quest For Camelot.

The lyrics from the song look to seek a way out of darkness.