By Alaa Elassar
Lady Gaga kicked off Saturday night’s “One World: Together At Home” livestream concert — an event she helped organize — by praising “all of the medical workers that are putting their lives at risk for us.”
The Grammy award-winning singer then launched into an emotional rendition of “Smile,” the standard made famous by Nat King Cole and others.Gaga collaborated with Global Citizen to plan the event, which featured more than 70 celebrities and singers and was aimed at “celebrating” health care and essential workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
The concert raised nearly $128 million to support the fight against Covid-19 — $72.8 million of it to local and regional responders.
“Today I’m so happy that we are one world, together at home. I feel very honored to be a part of the World Health Organization and Global Citizen in the fight against COVID-19 and raising money for the Solidarity Response Fund,” Lady Gaga said before her first performance on Saturday.
“I care so much about all of the medical workers that are putting their lives at risk for us right now. I think of them every day, I pray for them every day, and I’m also thinking of all of you that are at home, who are wondering when this is all going to be different.”
“What I’d like to do for you tonight, if I can, is just give you the permission to, for a moment…smile,” she added before breaking into the song.
The special, also broadcast on major TV networks, also included performances by Billie Eilish, Elton John, Lizzo, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney — all recorded in their homes around the world.
Gaga also bought the show to a close by joining John Legend, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli and pianist Lang Lang to perform “The Prayer,” the 1999 hit by Dion and Bocelli.
Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert co-hosted the event.
