The artist announced via Instagram that he will be hosting a ‘very intimate’ live streamed show on September 19, the proceeds from which will be donated to the Lebanese Red Cross and Save the Children UK. The show, called I Love Beirut, will be streamed on YouTube in four different time zones, with tickets now on sale for each.
The singer, who last year released his fifth studio album, My Name Is Michael Holbrook, billed the upcoming show as ‘a very special performance’, adding that there will be ‘some surprises’ for viewers. As well as organising the benefit concert, Mika has also set up a GoFundMe page, where anyone can make donations to aid the city’s recovery; the page has already collected over £18,300 since being created on August 20.
Mika is of Lebanese descent and was born in Beirut, where, on August 4, 178 people were killed and over 6,000 were injured in an explosion caused by 3,000 tonnes of illegally stored ammonium nitrate in the city’s port. The artist wrote: ‘Beirut has been through so much and the resilience and strength the Lebanese people is undeniable. It is the place of my birth, a part of me and will always be in my heart’.
The artist’s announcement of the I Love Beirut show follows a series of online activity related to the tragic incident in Lebanon. In another moving letter to its citizens, Mika expressed his grief and deepest sympathies, as well as criticising the country’s leadership. He remarked: ‘I cannot but think of these two explosions as a symbol of a system which is shattering’.
The singer said that it was this leadership which steered Lebanon into ‘a series of misfortunes’, which he argues led to the recent disaster. He called out Hassan Diab, the country’s Prime Minister, after he said that those responsible for the explosion would be ‘held accountable’. To this, Mika responded: ‘Those responsible for whom? For what? Those responsible for 30 years of agony which have turned the land of cedars into the land of ashes’. The Port of Beirut, the epicentre of the blast, is indeed owned and overseen by the Lebanese government.
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If you would like to find out more information on the charities I have personally chosen to support, head to the linktree in my bio A post shared by MIKA (@mikainstagram) on
Fans from across the globe have left messages of support under Mika’s recent social media posts. One commented: ‘These words – your words – resonate with me, echoing in my ears. I’m terribly moved by the way you wrote all this. This is when you remind us that your pen is equalled only by your candour. This is the artist I love’.
The Lebanese Red Cross, one of the charities receiving support from Mika’s September show, has been working on the front lines in Beirut amid the recent catastrophe, its volunteers providing free life-saving disaster relief. Save the Children, a British charity also receiving revenue from the performance, has set up an emergency fund to aid Beirut’s children, thousands of whom are now homeless.
Tickets to Mika’s I Love Beirut benefit concert can be purchased for £10 each, all of which will be donated to the above charities.
