The FireAid benefit concerts held on Thursday (January 30) drew 50 million viewers, and with donations still pouring in, the campaign\u2019s leaders say they expect to raise more than $100 million.<\/p>\n
The money will be used for immediate and long-term recovery needs as Southern California picks up the pieces from the devastating wildfires that tore through the region last month.<\/p>\n
The total funds raised include ticket sales for the two concerts, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and donations from the public, including \u201cgenerous private gifts\u201d from the Azoff family<\/strong>, the Eagles<\/strong>, Andrew Hauptman<\/strong> and Ellen Bronfman Hauptman<\/strong>, and U2<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Recording Academy and MusiCares also raised more than $24 million<\/a> for fireaid relief activities over the Grammy weekend.<\/p>\n The LA Clippers<\/strong> offset the concerts\u2019 operating costs. Live Nation<\/strong> served as the production partner. Notably, Steve<\/strong> and Connie Ballmer<\/strong> matched every donation pledge made during the broadcast and stream of the shows.<\/p>\n The two concerts were held last week at the Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum in Inglewood and were streamed on 28 platforms, including Apple Music,<\/strong> AppleTV<\/strong>, DIRECTV<\/strong>, Disney+\/Hulu<\/strong>, iHeartRadio<\/strong>, Max<\/strong>, Meta<\/strong> (Facebook\/Instagram<\/strong>), Netflix\/Tudum.com<\/strong>, Paramount+\/Pluto TV<\/strong>, Peacock\/NBC News Now<\/strong>, Prime Video<\/strong>, SiriusXM<\/strong>\u2019s \u201cLIFE with John Mayer\u201d channel, SoundCloud<\/strong>, TikTok<\/strong>, Veeps<\/strong>, X<\/strong>, and YouTube<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The concert was also available to view at select AMC Theatres<\/strong> and Regal Cinemas<\/strong> locations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe committee has been listening daily to affected communities, assessing local resource gaps to ensure aid reaches those most in need.”<\/p>\n FireAid<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Thirty prominent artists performed at the shows, among them Anderson .Paak<\/strong>, Billie Eilish<\/strong> and Finneas<\/strong>, Green Day<\/strong>, Jelly Roll<\/strong>, Joni Mitchell<\/strong>, Katy Perry<\/strong>, Lady Gaga<\/strong>, Lil Baby<\/strong>, No Doubt<\/strong>, Olivia Rodrigo<\/strong>, Peso Pluma<\/strong>, P!nk<\/strong>, Red Hot Chili Peppers<\/strong>, Rod Stewart<\/strong>, Sting<\/strong>, and Tate McRae<\/strong>. Additionally, Dave Matthews<\/strong> and John Mayer<\/strong> performed together for the first time.<\/p>\n The benefit concert was a joint effort between Shelli<\/strong> and Irving Azoff<\/strong>, the Azoff family, Live Nation, and AEG Presents. The effort picked up numerous sponsors, with Kaiser Permanente<\/strong> and Scopely<\/strong> joining Live Nation as presenting partners.<\/p>\n American Express<\/strong>, AT&T<\/strong>, Capital Group<\/strong>, Netflix<\/strong>, Snap Inc.<\/strong>, U.S. Bank<\/strong>, UBS<\/strong>, Venmo<\/strong>, and the Visa Foundation<\/strong> joined as \u201cDiamond Partners,\u201d while AEG Presents<\/strong>, DIRECTV<\/strong>, Goldman Sachs<\/strong>, HBO<\/strong>, Intuit<\/strong>, Starbucks<\/strong>, YouTube<\/strong>, and the Verizon Foundation <\/strong>joined as \u201cGold Partners.\u201d CalHOPE<\/strong>, Prime Video\/Amazon MGM Studios<\/strong>, JPMorganChase<\/strong>, Salesforce<\/strong>, the Schuman Family Foundation<\/strong>, SiriusXM<\/strong>, Sony Honda Mobility<\/strong>, Spotify<\/strong>, and TikTok<\/strong> signed on as \u201cSilver Partners.”<\/p>\n The campaign has set up a Grants Advisory Committee, headed up by the Annenberg Foundation<\/strong>, to determine how the funds are to be disbursed. The organizers said the aim is to achieve \u201cmaximum impact\u201d for the donated money.<\/p>\n \u201cThe committee has been listening daily to affected communities, assessing local resource gaps to ensure aid reaches those most in need, and researching the handling of other fire disasters, such as those in Maui and Northern California,\u201d organizers said in a statement on Wednesday (February 5).<\/p>\n The first tranche of grants is expected to be awarded in mid-February.<\/p>\n Donations are still being accepted, and those wishing to pledge money to the cause can visit FireAidLA.org<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The last of the major fires in the L.A. area \u2013 the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire \u2013 were brought under control on Saturday (February 1), after burning for nearly a month.<\/p>\n A total of 17 wildfires burned through the greater Los Angeles area and San Diego County over three weeks in January, taking 29 lives, forcing more than 200,000 people to evacuate, and destroying or damaging 18,000 homes or other buildings.<\/p>\n