Lissette Quiñones
Assistant A&E Editor
It’s obvious that this moment in time seems to be consistent with its attendance, never leaving to relieve us from such extremities. When it seemed as though we lost the pinnacle of sanity, we turned outward and followed the sounds of new artists and new inventions, which eventually led to the resurrection of music. With such gratitude for the art form, we thank a variety of pop icons for keeping us still, especially when it felt like we had lost hope for something that gave us nothing but creative greatness.
It’s not easy to break away from normality, so to be able to switch from performing in front of thousands of people in person to performing in front of thousands on a small screen seems like a hidden talent we never thought we needed. Yet, well known artists today were able to pull themselves together and show their fans the show they initially came for.
Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and many more helped musicians around the world be able to deliver to die-hard fans straight from their cozy couch cushions.
To provide for the people the Global Citizens foundation began the “#TogetherAtHome” campaign, to allow artists and musicians to hone their craft while making music for fans around the world who were struggling amidst such a crisis.
The “#TogetherAtHome” campaign started off with live streaming performances by R&B duo Chloe x Halle, followed by pop artists Lauv, whose performances got the ball rolling for at-home viewers. Shortly after, an influx of musicians including Lauren Jauregui, Sofi Tukker, Kygo, Noah Cyrus, Ty Dolla Sign, Barenaked Ladies, and Dove Cameron took part, many more joined the campaign. They performed solo sessions to contribute to the changing industry.
Following suit with the success of the “#TogetherAtHome” movement, the creators of the TikTok platform launched their own series called “#HappyAtHome”, allowing artists to showcase their tremendous talents via livestream.
The “#HappyAtHome” series gave us the opportunity to view concerts from headliners including Megan Thee Stallion, Alicia Keys, Jason Derulo, Troye Sivan, Meghan Trainor, Yungblud and a few more. This ultimately granted variety and rhythm into our everyday livelihood. As the high demand of media platforms delivered livestreams to its subscribers, the livestream platform none other than Twitch launched its own campaign to give a visual experience and aid for the World Health Organization’s very own “COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.” Artists such as Charlie Puth, Ellie Goulding, John Legend, Rita Ora, PARTYNEXTDOOR partnered with Twitch and performed live on the streaming platform.
While major social media platforms launched their own campaigns to provide visuals and concerts for their subscribers, many artists went a step further to team up with said social media platforms to create livestream sessions not only to perform, but to provide insight to disowning issues.
Miley Cyrus teamed up with Instagram to create a stream of live sessions called “Bright Minded” and had celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and others to create a feature called “5 LGBTQ facts in 5 minutes”. This allows Instagram users the ability to hop onto the live stream and engage with their favorite singers and influencers.
Pop artist Halsey hosted her very own live stream session to allow fans to celebrate the release of her very own published poetry book titled “I would Leave Me If I Could”. Country singers Justin Moore and Kellie Pickler teamed up with Robert Irvine to join the “Salute to Our Heroes” to celebrate Veterans and first responders who have been tremendously helpful through the pandemic by creating a virtual celebration.
To close off the year of 2020, one that will infamously go down in history, band members Pink Martini held a “Good Riddance 2020” (you got that right!) livestream in Portland. “Lonely” singer, Justin Bieber, collabed with T-Mobile services to exit the old year and bring us into the start of 2021 with an online performance available free of charge to customers and a small fee to others who are a part of a different plan.
It’s obvious that the past few months have not gone according to plan as events were canceled, tours were shut down, artists were without rhythm and the audience was silent. All that was heard for a while was the sound of tragedy after tragedy, hope morphing into despair, but that was until the people went out of their comfort zones, pushed past the boundaries of normality, and progressed by motivation and creativity.
Thanks to innovators and determination, artists were able to provide for us because their imaginations overcame extraneous obstacles which allowed them to grow and create new styles of entertainment. We’ll be able to cherish them even more knowing that although we had to go through this, we didn’t go through it alone. It is evident that the power of artistic expression cannot be confined by restrictions and guidelines and the safest part about that is now we have a greater appreciation for it.