There are times when I think that song lyrics could not get any worse and the music industry could not get more shallow. And then they do.
But then there are those special occasions when performers pull together as a community and fully redeem themselves. They step out of their own comfortable lives and work towards a common humanitarian goal. On Jan. 22, the music industry followed the example it set after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in South Asia with "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief," an international charity telethon to raise money for earthquake relief efforts.
The telethon was broadcast from three cities with Wyclef Jean hosting in New York and George Clooney hosting in Los Angeles. The London broadcast was remotely hosted by Anderson Cooper, reporting from Haiti.
The night's lineup featured major artists from all genres of music, including Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift and Coldplay.
Some singers chose to perform relevant songs from their own repertoire, such as Madonna who, accompanied by a choir, sang her 1989 single "Like a Prayer." Beyonce's emotional rendition of "Halo" was backed only by a piano and featured modified lyrics.
Other artists performed well-known covers for the telethon: Shakira sang The Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You," Bruce Springsteen and six backup singers performed the iconic "We Shall Overcome," and Justin Timberlake and singer-songwriter Matt Morris covered Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."
Former President Bill Clinton, Brad Pitt, Chris Rock, Clint Eastwood, Jon Stewart, Meryl Streep, Robert Pattinson, Muhammad Ali and a score of other actors, celebrities and political figures also made appearances or helped answer calls to take donations.
Wyclef Jean appropriately ended the night with his performance of the 1972 reggae song "Rivers of Babylon." The song started out mellow, but at Jean's cue, it transformed into a fast-paced assemblage of percussion and horns with lyrics about the resilience of Haiti's spirit. Jean was born in Haiti and joined the relief effort immediately after the disaster occurred.
"Hope for Haiti Now" will continue accepting donations for the next six months. Listeners can also purchase the live tracks, the compilation album or the video telecast on iTunes. The day after the telethon, MTV reported that "Hope for Haiti Now" had already raised over $58 million and the album had broken the iTunes record for highest one-day pre-order album sales. Currently, Timberlake's "Hallelujah" is the most downloaded song on iTunes.
The response to Haiti's suffering on an international and local level has been staggering. But another cause for hope is the fact that musical artists and other high-profile figures understand that their increased presence, resources and influence mean they have to take on greater responsibility.
