2020, the year of the lockdown, it’s something that most of us won’t forget for a long time to come. Most countries had various lockdowns and periods of quarantine since early 2020 and these indefinite spells in isolation were difficult for many different reasons. Other than the frontline workers who had to persevere through it all, everyone was asked to stay home. This meant that those living alone were isolated, the elderly were vulnerable and some people feared they would never see some of their family again. This invisible epidemic kept families separated for birthdays, grandparents away from newborn babies and left many people struggling with their mental health.
However, music once again fought for us to maintain our sense of community. It did what little else could and transcending the limitations and lockdowns to bring us together and make us smile. We cannot underestimate the role music had during the Covid-19 pandemic. We know that music listening increased during lockdown, with more than 155 million albums either bought or streamed in the UK. Geoff Taylor, the head of record label body BPI, said that this was a reminder of “how important music is, even when our lives are disrupted”.
The music was uplifting and increased accessibility meant that thousands of people would attend live concerts that they otherwise may never have gotten to see. Even in such an uncertain and challenging time music allowed us to sing along and be part of something bigger, to help others with needs greater than our own. Many talented artists and musicians took to TV, Instagram, Facebook and other online streaming services to raise money for charities representing those affected by, or forgotten about, during the pandemic.
Somehow, just listening to live music through a phone or laptop screen broke the monotony and isolation felt by many in lockdown. Music did what most politicians and world leaders could not, it showed us that we were one global community, that we were all on the same team and simply working together to show kindness and respect could make a difference to the outcome of our lockdown.
Here’s a short list of those who worked hard to brighten up our Covid isolation and went the extra mile to raise essential funds for incredible charities.
The Late Late Show Fundraisers
During lockdown, certain charities were struggling due to cancelled fundraising events and were appealing for public support, so artists took to The Late Late Show to sing and collect phone and text donations. This appeal was monumental and saw artists raise millions for each charity. Hozier sang for the ISPCC, Gavin James for Alone, Daniel O’Donnell for St Vincent De Paul and Mary Black, Mary Coughlan, Francis Black and Sharon Shannon performed for Pieta House. The shows focused solely on the charities and the music which made for some quite emotional performances.
Irish Women in Harmony
Personally, I think this may have been one of the best singles to come out of 2020. This recording was the brainchild of singer Ruthanne, who contacted other artists to do something in aid of Safe Ireland, who work to end domestic abuse and coercive control in Ireland. During lockdown, domestic violence cases soared and many people became trapped in abusive environments. This song opened a public conversation about domestic abuse and spread awareness of its impact and increase over lockdown. The song features some of Ireland’s finest female voices, from household names like Moya Brennan, Imelda May and Lisa Hannigan, to new talents such as Roe, Soulé and Eve Belle, to name a few. Each voice is as ethereal as it is powerful, a truly fitting tribute to Dolores O’Riordan and Safe Ireland.
One World: Together at Home
This was one of the first major livestream projects in 2020. Lady Gaga curated a global broadcast which was televised and streamed worldwide in support of the World Health Organisation Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The full concert was eight hours long and had more than enough to please everyone, featuring Billie Joe Armstrong, Maluma, Kacey Musgraves and Paul McCartney. It gave us special performances like Annie Lennox performing with her daughter, Lizzo’s rendition of ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ and Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, Lady Gaga and Lang Lang performing ‘The Prayer’.
Songs From An Empty Room
This RTÉ special had some of Ireland’s best talent perform in empty venues across Ireland to raise money for Minding Creative Minds and the Association of Irish Stage Technicians (AIST) Hardship Fund. Minding Creative Minds is a new organisation established to offer wellbeing support to those working in the Irish creative sector. Organisations such as this are vital in today’s climate, with the arts suffering massive unemployment worldwide. The concert featured Denise Chaila, Mother DJs, Jafaris and James Vincent McMorrow. This innovative show allowed talented artists to broadcast nationwide and raise serious funds for worthy causes.
Niall Horan at the Royal Albert Hall
In November, Niall Horan played an empty Royal Albert Hall to raise money for his touring crew and the We Need Crew relief fund. With venues closed and tours cancelled, touring crews of stage managers, sound engineers, lighting technicians were unemployed and struggling. This concert was unlike anything any solo artist had done before and it proved to be a massive success with more than 120,000 tickets sold from 150 different countries worldwide. This was a really well executed project which helped many people and conveyed the true essence of performance in 2020.
Lockdown Ukulele Rockdown
This one is a personal favourite. In April 2020, Bressie sent over 200 ukuleles to the people of Mullingar who were ‘cocooning’ during the pandemic. An idea which started after he purchased a ukulele for his own parents. He thought people could use their time to learn an instrument and do something personally rewarding. Once the ukuleles were delivered, his Blizzards bandmate Justin Ryan would upload YouTube tutorials to teach people how to play. What resulted after the six lessons was a beautiful ukulele cover and an emotional lockdown home movie from the people of Mullingar.
Shine Your Light
Music will always find a way of communicating the things that words cannot, we use it to share our happiness, voice our unity, push for change and express our sadness. The lockdown saw anxiety, depression, isolation and fear spread through the country like wildfire. We had no way to comprehend what was happening or mourn our losses. So music took the forefront and acted as a shared form of expression.
During the Shine Your Light movement in April, people placed a light in their windows as a symbol of hope and solidarity in such dark times. To raise awareness for this, Sinead O’Connor performed a heartfelt cover of ‘Run’, alongside a montage of families and frontline workers holding their lights. This will surely be remembered as a fleeting moment of pure humanity during such a trying time, when our simple gestures showed our love for each other. We all need to remember to hold on to these little moments in hard times.
We may never want to revisit 2020 but at least the music we shared will live on forever as a memory of the experiences we shared together, while apart.
Many of the charities that were featured in these videos are still accepting donations so if there’s one that resonates with you and you can give anything to help them, please do!
Please remember, Covid-19 is still a feature of our daily lives and although we may be making real progress we are not there yet, so please continue to look after yourself and others. Stay safe.
