- A benefit concert was held in LA on January 30
- It was to raise money for the victims of the California wildfires
- Billie Ellish, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga were some of the performers
The tears may start rolling any minute now because on January 30, many performers came together to perform at the five-hour FireAid benefit concert in LA. Performers included Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga. The concert is to raise money for the victims of the California wildfires. The wildfires sadly swept across the state from January 7 and only recently stopped. Many people lost their homes in the fires, including many celebrities who lived in the affluent neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades.
Two celebrities have been campaigning hard to earn their lost income back. The Hills husband and wife duo Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag have been going hard online to promote I’ll Do It, Montag’s 2010 single from her album Superficial. But the benefit concert addresses the wider damage, the devastation, pollution and loss that the wildfires brought all across California.
Read More: The Pacific Palisades Fire Took These Stars Homes
However, there is a silver lining with FireAid. The concert brought together a community of singers across all genres from pop to rock for a good cause. The concert had two venues, the Kia Forum and the Inuit Dome. So with the recent concert being so long, how about we round up the best moments from FireAid?
Where can I Watch FireAid?
Just in case you may’ve missed it! FireAid was streamed on YouTube and Netflix, and is still available to watch online.
1. Billy Crystal Says He Looks Like a Robber
Yes, he really said that. Billy Crystal introduced the performers before the concert began. The actor spoke to the crowd at the Kia Forum. We know it was a gag, him wearing the same clothes he wore when he lost his home in the Palisades fire, but it’s still heart-breaking.
However, Crystal made light of the situation, joking with the audience about it. He joked with the audience, saying he looked like he just robbed a convenience store. Honestly he looked more like a Sims 2 robber, but we’re not here to judge.
On losing his home of 46 years, Crystal said at the benefit: “You’ll be hearing from a number of people who were tragically affected by these fires, and I was one of them. These were the clothes I wore when I fled my house with my wife Janice, like so many of us did, on January 7th. This was all I had. Wore it for a week, plus an N-95 mask.”
“I looked like an evacuee or someone that just robed a 7-11,” Crystal told the crowd.
2. Billie Eilish joins Green Day onstage
Everyone knows Billie Eilish has the voice of an angel, Happier Than Ever tells you that. But nobody expected her to crash Green Day’s Day performance at FireAid.
Eilish came out as the band were performing Last Night On Earth. As she performed, she sang with lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong. The two Billies definitely lit up the night with that performance. Even though Last Night On Earth is a sad song, it is a reminder at FireAid that everything will go on and build again. Eilish has previously expressed her love for Green Day, saying All By Myself was her fave song of theirs.
3. Nirvana’s reunion
Of course there will never be a Kurt Cobain to complete the group, but the three alive members kept our dreams alive. Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic performed together giving all the nineties vibes.
The group performed Nirvana classics, and Grohl’s daughter Violet even joined him and the band on-stage to sing All Apologies.
4. Dr. Dre shows the love for California
Dre has been a legend in the hip hop space for decades, and he joined Shelia. E and Anderson Pak on-stage. Dre’s reputation shows as his performance in particular brought out a reignited energy from the crowd. He first started with his 1999 hit Still Dre which featured Snopp Dogg.
Dre was among the singers who thanked the first responders for their work in the fires.
But his best moment was performing his rendition of Tupac Shakur’s 1995 hit California Love, which Dre produced. He has performed the hit many times, but it means something more coming out the other side of a devastating few weeks of fires.
5. Lady Gaga debuts new song at Fireaid
But the one who brought the house down (even with a ballad) was Lady Gaga, who debuted a new song. To close out FireAid, she debuted a song written with her fiancé, Michael Polansky. Polansky and Gaga have been together since late 2019, and got engaged in April 2024.
Speaking about her new song to the crowd, she said: “Me and my friend Michael — my fiancé, my love — we wrote this song for you.”
“It’s just for tonight. It’s just for you. I think we all need a lot of things right now, but I think something we may also need is time. Time is a healer,” she finished.
The song is a slow one which repeats the lyric ‘all I need is time’ as part of the chorus. Also in her setlist was Shallow, a song Gaga sung for the A Star Is Born soundtrack with Bradley Cooper in 2018.
Gaga has been on fire recently, dueting with Bruno Mars for Die With A Smile and releasing her new album Mayhem. Mayhem is released on March 7, so it is possible the new song could be on her album.
Although there were so many great moments and performances at FireAid, we can’t count them all! Thank you to all the performers and first responders who showed out to help the victims of the California wildfires.
