If it was meant to cheer us up, Saturday night’s One World: Together At Home prime time special failed – but it succeeded in showing us that the rich and famous are just as bummed as we are while we grapple with COVID-19.
After weeks of isolation and so much news of suffering and death, music stars – with their hearts in the right place – delivered a womp-womp setlist of mostly oldies.
The night’s only new song was Pearl Jam’s Gigaton track “River Cross,” which Eddie Vedder sang while playing an organ.
Taylor Swift did “Soon You’ll Get Better” and Kacey Musgraves sang “Rainbow” from their 2019 albums Lover and Golden Hour respectively.
One World, organized by Global Citizen and the World Health Organization (WHO), paid tribute to health care workers as well as teachers, grocery store workers, delivery people and other essential workers. Viewers were not asked for donations but the special – and an earlier day-long streaming event – raised tens of millions of dollars from corporations and philanthropists for the WHO's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
Lady Gaga, who curated One World, set the tone for the night with her version of “Smile,” a sad song about optimism penned in 1954 by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons using music Charlie Chaplin composed in 1936.
Lizzo beautifully belted out Sam Cooke’s 1964 anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come” and Keith Urban did an upbeat cover of Steve Winwood’s 1986 hit “Higher Love” backed by two digital clones (talk about Urban sprawl).
Notably, the most uplifting song in the show was performed by comedian Jimmy Fallon who, backed by The Roots, had a bit of fun with 1982’s “The Safety Dance” by Canada’s Men Without Hats.
The somber special served to give us a glimpse into the homes of music stars – think Bookshelves of the Rich & Famous. John Legend sang Ben E. King’s 1961 classic “Stand By Me” while seated next to three shelves holding some of his awards while Sam Smith joined in from his living room, with his collection of trophies clearly visible in the background.
The Rolling Stones did a Zoom-style performance of their 1969 hit “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” even though they evidently can’t always get a drum kit for Charlie Watts.
While Mick Jagger sounded as good as ever, two of his fellow Sirs gave somewhat cringe-worthy vocal performances. Elton John, playing 1983’s “I’m Still Standing” while seated at a grand piano in front of a backyard basketball hoop, sounded like he had just come from a dentist appointment. Paul McCartney’s wobbly rendition of the 1968 Beatles classic “Lady Madonna” was shot vertically as if intended for TikTok.
Billie Eilish had viewers reaching for the volume control as she whispered her way through a cover of Bobby Hebb’s 1966 hit “Sunny” accompanied by brother Finneas.
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello did a lovely version of Louis Armstrong’s 1967 classic “What a Wonderful World” from Cabello’s home in Miami.
And, a few kilometres away in Coral Gables, Jennifer Lopez did a beautiful version of 1964’s “People” while wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the face of Barbra Streisand – who originated the song in Funny Girl.
Billie Joe Armstrong sang Green Day’s 2005 track “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” Maluma performed 2014’s “Carnaval” and Burna Boy blended 2019’s “African Giant” with his 2017 track “Hallelujah.”
Stevie Wonder paid tribute to the late Bill Withers with a bit of the 1972 classic “Lean On Me” followed by his own 1976 track “Love’s In Need of Love Today.”
One World: Together At Home was hosted by late night talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert and featured messages from stars like Oprah Winfrey, Kerry Washington, J. Balvin, David and Victoria Beckham, Alicia Keys and Ellen DeGeneres.
Beyoncé noted that essential workers are “disproportionately” black Americans who “do not have the luxury of working from home.” She added: “African-American communities at large have been severely affected in this crisis. Those with pre-existing conditions are at an even higher risk. This virus is killing black people at an alarmingly high rate here in America.”
Noticeably absent from the announced line-up was Canada’s Alanis Morissette.
One World: Together at Home culminated with Andrea Bocelli and Canada’s Céline Dion reuniting (remotely, of course) for a performance of their 1999 ballad “The Prayer” with Lang Lang on piano and extra vocals by Lady Gaga. (John Legend inexplicably made a couple of cameos.)