Brandi Carlile's Birthday Show Raises $100K for Equality Groups

Brandi Carlile’s virtual birthday concert on Monday (June 1) became a fundraiser for two equality advocacy groups. The 39-year-old singer and her bandmates Phil and Tim Hanseroth performed for over an hour and raised over $100,000.

Ticket proceeds for the show benefited Carlile's crew and band, but the Tennessean reports that additional fundraising totaled over $100K, all earmarked for the Black Visions Collective and Campaign Zero. Black Visions Collective is a black-, trans- and queer-led organization that is committed to dismantling systems of oppression and violence in America, while Campaign Zero is an online platform that uses research-based policy solutions to end police brutality in America.

Carlile had tweeted her intent to spotlight these groups in a social media video shared on Sunday afternoon (May 31). Both organizations are important to her and have been close to her heart this week, she shared:

“I also want to say that I’m not here to hijack or appropriate this message, and if anybody else can help with it they shouldn’t be either,” Carlile says to wrap her video. “As a white person, now would be the time to stand behind, support and amplify the voices of the people who are being so affected so negatively and violently by racism in this country. Mine is certainly not the voice we need right now, discussing this.”

That said, she begins by saying she supports the message laid out by Black Lives Matter organizers, and that she would be observing the music industry shutdown on Tuesday (June 2).

The Tennessean shares that between her most well-known songs, Carlile urged viewers on Veeps.com to donate. The event came one week after the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was killed when a police officer in Minneapolis restrained him and pressed a knee to his neck for more than eight minutes.

June is also Pride Month in America, something Carlile, who is gay, spotlighted throughout the show.

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