John Legend joined the unified efforts of the Together At Home virtual music experience with an impromptu performance via Instagram on Tuesday night, to help bring the world together in the face of coronavirus.
Together At Home is an at-home experience launched this week by Global Citizen, the World Health Organization, and a group of exceptional artists, working to use music to unify people around the world when they may feel isolated by the conditions of COVID-19.
Chris Martin kicked things off on Monday, to be followed by Legend, who sang requests from fans at his piano while filming with his phone propped up nearby. His wife Chrissy Teigen and their daughter Luna joined too during the hour-long show, with some requests of their own.
“Coronavirus is affecting people all around the world and part of how we prevent it from spreading to even more people, and hurting even more people, is by physically distancing ourselves from people, including people who might be sick,” Legend said, explaining that – like a lot of people – he won’t be going to work any time soon.
“A lot of artists have decided they want to make staying home a little bit easier for everybody,” he added.
Legend played his own songs, like the hit "All of Me", as well as some old favourites like "Bridge over Troubled Water" and Stevie Wonder’s "Love’s in Need of Love Today" during the performance — which has so far had over 700,000 views.
As well as helping inspire people to stay inside, John Legend also had an important message about helping out fellow citizens who are struggling financially as a result of COVID-19.
He talked about people in jobs that can’t be done remotely and who can’t afford to take time off, and about the children and young people who normally rely on getting a meal at school, now going without.
“A lot of people are struggling to figure out how to feed their families… there are food banks already around America and all around the world right now that you can help, if you have the ability to do so,” he said.
Legend further encouraged people to head to Global Citizen and join in the Together At Home campaign, through which you can take meaningful actions to join the global effort against COVID-19 — like educating yourself on COVID-19 and how to stay healthy; calling on G20 states to contribute funding to the global effort; and spreading the world about the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
Every day will bring a new Together At Home performance, with Charlie Puth up next performing live on Instagram on Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT, 4 p.m. ET, and 8 p.m. GMT. Head to our social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get updates on #TogetherAtHome.
You can see all of Global Citizen's COVID-19 coverage here.
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