As the Los Angeles fires continue to rage across the city, the Recording Academy and MusiCares made a combined pledge of $1 million to kick off a new relief effort to support musicians and industry professionals impacted by the devastating fires.
The Grammys voting body launched the effort in partnership with the Academy’s philanthropic arm to provide health, financial and rehabilitation resources for artists in L.A.
“The entire Grammy family is shocked and deeply saddened by the situation that is unfolding in Los Angeles,” Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s chief executive, said in a statement Thursday night. “The music community is being so severely impacted but we will come together as an industry to support one another. Our organizations exist to serve music people because music is a powerful force for good in the world, and we hope the broader industry will now rally to this cause.”
The Academy has set up a donation page and encouraged music fans to donate to to funnel funds directly to artists in need, following the ongoing destruction. Thousands of families have been evacuated, many with no home to return to. The Recording Academy said they hope these donations can provide “solace and comfort to the Angelenos impacted by this devastating natural disaster.”
The Recording Academy also provided links in their statement on X for resources, shelter locations via The Red Cross and information about Uber and Lyft vouchers for residents displaced by the fires.
“We expect the disaster relief efforts in Los Angeles to be extraordinary, if even just on the basis of how many music people have lost their homes in the last day,” Laura Segura, executive director of MusiCares, added. “MusiCares is always committed to ensuring that music professionals are supported in times of crisis, and we ask for the larger community to donate for those in need at this dire time.”
MusiCares has provided over $100 million in financial support to the music community since its inception in 1989. The charity has offered relief in response to a variety of past disasters, including the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest festival shooting, the COVID-19 pandemic, Superstorm Sandy, Hurricanes Katrina and Helene and the Maui wildfires.
