Vax Live concert raises over $302 million in aid of global vaccine rollout efforts
Foo Fighters, Brian Johnson and many more appeared at the hugely successful concert.
Image: Kevin Mazur
Vax Live, a concert in aid of global vaccination efforts against COVID-19, has raised over $302 million following its broadcast over the weekend.
The concert was organised by Global Citizen, and was recorded on 2 May. It broadcast last Saturday (8 May), and the whole concert is available to watch on YouTube. Global Citizen noted that the funds raised equate to more than 26 million vaccination doses.
The musicians that appeared at the concert included Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, J Balvin, H.E.R., and Saweetie. AC/DC singer Brian Johnson appeared alongside Foo Fighters, performing the track Back In Black – take a look below.
A swathe of comedians and actors also appeared, including Ben Affleck, Chrissy Teigen, David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Nomzamo Mbatha, Olivia Munn and Sean Penn.
Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder used his time on stage to call for vaccine equality, saying: “If you’re a government, if you’re a world leader, and you have excess vaccines, please don’t stockpile. Please make it available to the countries that need it. Please distribute it ASAP.”
He added: “And if you’re a drug company, we thank you for your inventions. If you really wanted to be heroes, if you want history to look back and smile upon you as heroes, it would be great if you could distribute this vaccine at cost and then you’d have a fair and equitable distribution system throughout the planet, and that’s how we will survive and conquer this pandemic.”
He also performed the track Corduroy, as well as a cover of Little Steven’s I Am A Patriot.
You can see the full concert below.
Elsewhere at the event, US president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden sent in messages of support to be shown on the stream.
“Every person vaccinated is helping to save lives, and give us back those moments that we’ve missed so much,” the first lady said in her video address. President Biden added: “We’re working with leaders around the world to share more vaccines, and boost production to make sure every country has the vaccines they need, and if we can get this done we won’t have to miss another moment.”