Frontman Chris Martin hopped on Instagram for a virtual concert as part of the newly-launched Together, At Home Campaign.
“Hello everyone. I hope you and your family are safe and healthy. If anyone feels like chatting and listening to some music, I’m going to do a livestream on the Coldplay Instagram,” the British vocalist tweeted ahead of the livestream.
Hello everyone. I hope you and your family are safe and healthy. If anyone feels like chatting and listening to some music, I’m going to do a livestream on the Coldplay Instagram in about 30 mins (1pm in LA / 8pm in London). love CM #TogetherAtHome
— Coldplay🌙☀️ (@coldplay) March 16, 2020
Martin took some requests from fans, performing live renditions of Coldplay’s classics such as “A Sky Full of Stars”, “Trouble”, “Viva La Vida” and “Yellow” as well as David Bowie’s “Life On Mars”.
“Maybe 9/11 was the last time I felt like we were all together …. I feel like I’m on Celebrity Big Brother. I was never asked to go on one of those things,” he said to the nearly 50,000 that tuned in during the intimate concert.
At the end of the 30-minute livestream, Martin announced that John Legend will be the second artist to participate in the Together, At Home Campaign.
“My friend Chris Martin did a lovely little concert from home today. I’ll be doing one tomorrow at 1pm Pacific time. See you soon. We’ll try to get through this together! #TogetherAtHome,” Legend tweeted in response, adding that he will take song requests from fans joining in.
My friend Chris Martin did a lovely little concert from home today. I'll be doing one tomorrow at 1pm Pacific time. See you soon. We'll try to get through this together! #TogetherAtHome https://t.co/YZ8Y1W8esc
— John Legend (@johnlegend) March 16, 2020
The Together, At Home Campaign is a collaboration between the World Health Organization (WHO) and Global Citizen, whose new virtual concert series intends to “promote unity amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s social distancing protocols.”
The initiative also supports WHO’s historic COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, which hopes to raise 675 million throughout the month of April.
Martin and Legend are the latest musicians to turn to livestreams in an effort to alleviate the stress of confinement in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Alejandro Sanz, Juanes, Yungblud and Diplo have all taken the show online for fans to watch from the comfort of their home.
Earlier this week, American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and Polish tenor Piotr Beczala performed nearly 90 minutes of excerpts from Massenet’s “Werther” opera in the midst of the Metropolitan Opera’s shutdown.
The livestream also enabled them to ask for donations for the American Guild of Musical Artists relief fund and Artist Relief Tree, which both aim at providing financial assistance to performers affected by the coronavirus pandemic. JB
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