Stay occasions are again in a giant method from coast to coast however that doesn’t imply digital gatherings are a factor of the previous — neither is the pandemic phenomenon RWQuarantunes.
WME companion Richard Weitz and daughter Demi Weitz revived their digital fundraising collection on Thursday evening in partnership with Metropolis of Hope for the org’s sixteenth annual Songs of Hope gala offered by Fb. Proving there’s nonetheless an viewers for this stuff, the gala raised greater than $780,000 backed by an honorees lineup that featured Brandi Carlile, Smokey Robinson, rising music stars (and real-life couple) Gracie Abrams and Blake Slatkin, Oscar winner Hildur Guðnadóttir and the late Pop Smoke, Daniel Nigro and Metropolis of Hope’s Loretta Erhunmwunsee.
The digital celebration, offered by Fb, raised the hefty sum to help Metropolis of Hope’s mission to get rid of most cancers and diabetes, a tally that pushed RWQuarantunes to $27.4 million raised for greater than 50 organizations since March 2020. Spinmaster and Cross the Mic guru DJ Cassidy, recent from an look at “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Live performance,” kicked off the evening and received the power flowing whereas broadcasting stay from Kerry Brown’s Rolling Stay Studios on Ventura Boulevard.
Demi — who began internet hosting RWQuarantunes alongside her father when she was 17 and is now a university freshman — promised surprises, particular friends and “sniper” moments of impromptu performances and the evening didn’t disappoint.
The hours-long broadcast featured performances by Duran Duran’s John Taylor and Simon Le Bon, who provided the long-lasting tune “Extraordinary World” (an look that checked off a bucket listing merchandise for Richard Weitz, who mentioned he’d wished them for RWQuarantunes because it began), Jac Ross, and Rob Thomas with appearances by emcee Jimmy Jam, Benny Blanco, Aloe Blacc, The Dream, Carole Bayer Sager, Diane Warren, Jennifer Holliday, (prior Songs of Hope honoree) Desmond Baby, Todd Phillips, Deborah Cox, occasion co-chair Evan Lamberg, and others.
Ryan Press had the honors of presenting this system’s first award, Warner Chappell’s Voice of Hope Award, which was offered posthumously in honor of the late hip-hop star Pop Smoke. The Dream recorded a message in regards to the slain rapper, who was killed throughout a house theft try in February 2020. Later, his mom, Audrey Jackson, accepted the award on her son’s behalf and continued to honor his reminiscence by way of a Q&A session with Billboard’s Gail Mitchell throughout which she praised her son’s expertise and revealed his need to someday be a enterprise chief and entrepreneur.
Music mogul (and RWQuarantues vet) Clive Davis offered Robinson with the Clive Davis Legend in Songwriting Award. Occasion co-chairs turned the tables in a shock second by presenting Davis with one other trophy, the Songs of Hope Heroes Award. Occasion co-chair Lamberg praised Davis for his contributions by way of the years, dubbing him the “bedrock and cornerstone” of Songs of Hope. Additionally throughout that phase, Aloe Blacc popped as much as sing a little bit of his hit, “The Man,” whereas Island Information artist Ross impressed throughout a brief set of Robinson classics with “My Woman” and “Cruisin.”
Demi and Richard Weitz are seen right here with Jimmy Jam throughout an earlier RWQuarantunes occasion at Grammy Museum.
Alex J. Berliner/ABImages
Talking of music, Matchbox Twenty frontman Thomas captivated the digital crowd with an acoustic take of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Someone” earlier than accepting tune requests in trade for donations, together with “Bent” and “Little Surprise.”
Ears perked up when it got here time to current the Songwriter Impression Award to rising stars Abrams and Slatkin. She is a singer-songwriter (and daughter of Hollywood energy couple J.J. Abrams and Katie McGrath) who’s about to embark on a North American headlining tour, That is What it Feels Like. He’s a songwriter and producer driving excessive off No. 1 hits for Iann Dior (“Temper”) and the Child Laroi and Justin Bieber (“Keep”). Fb’s Zeina Grenier and Alexa Cabellon had been joined unexpectedly visitor Benny Blanco in presenting them with the prize, earlier than a brief efficiency.
A longtime and Grammy Award-winning act additionally turned up for the occasion as Brandi Carlile was honored with a She is the Music Award, offered by Common Music Publishing Group chairman and CEO Jody Gerson. The trophy got here hours earlier than the discharge of her latest album, In These Silent Days.
Nigro obtained the Sony Music Publishing Inventive Trailblazer Award, offered to him by Sony’s Nick Bral and Jennifer Knoepfle, who shined a lightweight on his many accomplishments, together with latest work on Olivia Rodrigo’s smash album Bitter. Erhunmwunsee, an assistant professor within the Division of Thoracic Surgical procedure at Metropolis of Hope, took residence the Beverly and Ben Horowitz Legacy Award, named after the longtime CEO and first woman of the establishment. Below Horowitz’s management, Metropolis of Hope remodeled from a small hospital centered on tuberculosis right into a analysis and remedy chief.
The net gala was doable by way of help from Clive Davis, Common Music Publishing Group, Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music and EA Music with extra help from ASCAP, Bruce Resnikoff, Barbara and Zach Horowitz, Harmony, Jody and Gary Marsh, Hipgnosis, Mark and Ana Maria Gordon, and YouTube Music. Co-chairs included Doug Davis of the Davis Agency, Lamberg, president of North America/Common Music Publishing Group, David Renzer, and Steve Schnur, worldwide govt and president of Music for Digital Arts.
