Pick a Day

Music History Events: Good Deeds

October 6, 2002 Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones donates 100,000 pounds to the school he once attended in Dartford, England, for musical instruments and a band director. The resultant musical center is named after the singer.

February 26, 2002 John Fogerty, Elton John, Eagles, Stevie Nicks, and Billy Joel perform at the multi-venue Los Angeles charity benefit Four Concerts for Artists' Rights, proceeds of which benefit a labor-friendly musicians' organization called the Recording Artists Coalition.

December 5, 2001 David Crosby and Don Henley headline a benefit concert that raises $300,000 for children of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

October 28, 2001 Lonestar frontman Richie McDonald runs in the 26th annual Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. McDonald raises over $1,000 in pledge money for patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

October 28, 2001 More than 22,000 friends, neighbors and fans turn out for Tim McGraw's eighth annual Swampstock, held in his hometown of Rayville, Louisiana. Proceeds from the day benefit local youth sports organizations, scholarship funds and the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit fund.

October 28, 2001 The Beastie Boys play their first show in more than two-and-a-half years at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, at the first of two New Yorkers Against Violence benefits, which the rap trio organized.

September 28, 2001 Celine Dion and Peter Gabriel perform at an American Red Cross benefit concert at Montreal's Molson Centre for victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

November 16, 2000 Jewel becomes one of the first artists to stream a concert online, doing so to benefit an organization working to bring clean water to those who need it.

November 13, 2000 Trisha Yearwood donates a Starlight Fun Center to Vanderbilt University Children's Hospital. The mobile entertainment center includes a TV monitor, VCR and Nintendo 64 game unit, and can be rolled up next to a child's bed.

October 25, 2000 Billy Ray Cyrus lends his support to Second Harvest Food Bank when his tour bus stops in 16 different locations on Nashville's Music Row throughout the day to collect food for Harvest 2000; later the same night, he headlines a concert benefiting the charity.

September 28, 2000 Ballet For Life, a ballet tribute to late Queen singer and AIDS casualty Freddie Mercury, premieres at London's Sadler's Wells Theatre.

September 27, 2000 Quincy Jones' Listen Up Foundation donates $25,000 to five South Central Los Angeles youth organizations. The endowments, made in the names of the five teens who make up Listen Up's From South Central To South Africa youth delegation, are presented during a reception at the Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills. The five teens - Martha Gonzalez, JeJuana Johnson, Megan Yaleh Meaway, Hector Sanchez, and Omari Trice - traveled to the Orange Farm Township, outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, one of the country's most disadvantaged communities, to build homes for three South African families.

September 26, 2000 Creed lead singer Scott Stapp launches his With Arms Wide Open Foundation with a fundraising re-release of the song "With Arms Wide Open."

November 25, 1999 Clint Black is on hand to help the Salvation Army launch its annual holiday fundraising drive. Black entertains during the third annual "National Kettle Kick-off," a half-time event at the Dallas Cowboys' football game.

November 20, 1999 Patty Loveless kicks off the holiday season by traveling aboard a CSX Transportation train bearing gifts to families along a route from Pikeville, Kentucky - Loveless' hometown - to Kingsport, Tennessee. The transportation system has distributed 15 tons of gifts annually to people living in Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Tennessee and Western Virginia.

October 9, 1999 David Bowie, Sheryl Crow and George Michael are among the performers at NetAid, a set of three simultaneous concerts streamed live to harness the internet as a hub for activism. The shows, which are also broadcast on TV and radio, take place at Wembley Stadium, Giants Stadium and the Palais des Nations in Geneva. They go well but draw surprisingly little interest in activism, as folks would rather use their time online to find photos of Britney Spears than help eradicate third-world debt.

April 6, 1999 Bob Weir and Mickey Hart of Grateful Dead appear at an Al Gore presidential fundraiser, with Gore's wife, notorious anti-rock crusader Tipper, playing congas.

February 27, 1999 Vince Gill plays "How Great Thou Art" on the dobro at the Grand Ole Opry in honor of dobro legend Brother Oswald.

November 20, 1998 Alanis Morissette does an in-store performance for the opening of a Tower records store in Buenos Aires. Proceeds from the sale of her album for the day are donated to a local children's hospital.

October 26, 1998 John Michael Montgomery raises over $14,000 for the Jessamine Humane Society at his Putt for Paws golf tournament and concert. "We have a moral obligation to take care of these homeless animals," Montgomery says. "After all, we domesticated them."

February 19, 1998 With Brian Setzer leading the swing revival at the helm of The Brian Setzer Orchestra, he reunites Stray Cats for a show at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, with proceeds going to the Carl Perkins Center For The Prevention Of Child Abuse.

November 27, 1997 Reba McEntire debuts her new song "What If" at halftime of the Cowboys-Oilers Thanksgiving Day football game at Texas Stadium. Proceeds from the song are donated to the Salvation Army.

November 12, 1997 More than $2 million is raised at the Neil Bogart Memorial Fund's 1997 Children's Choice Award dinner honoring Grammy-winning producer/songwriter David Foster. Performers and guests include Az Yet, All-4-One, Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman and Cindy Crawford.

October 4, 1997 Farm Aid returns to Illinois for the first time since it started in 1985, selling out the New World Music Theater in Tinley Park. Performers include The Dave Matthews Band and Beck.

April 11, 1997 After a 20-year absence, Grand Funk re-forms for a tour that benefits the Bosnian-American Relief Fund, which aids victims of the genocide in Bosnia.

October 5, 1996 Joan Osborne, Soul Asylum, Jewel, Extra Fancy, The Presidents of the United States of America, and Dog's Eye View, among others, perform at the first annual "Concert to Benefit The Pedro Zamora Foundation." The show raises money for the PZF to use toward educating kids about AIDS. Zamora, who died of an AIDS-related illness two years earlier, was a cast member on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco.

October 5, 1996 Neal McCoy raises $150,000 for a charity he and wife Melinda established in 1995. Country singer Bryan White, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, Cowboys coach Joe Avezzano and radio host Bob Kingsley pitch in for a concert at the Longview High School Coliseum in Longview, Texas. The money goes to the East Texas Angel Network (ETAN), which provides financial assistance for medical treatments and related costs to families with children suffering from serious diseases.

March 12, 1996 Nancy Sinatra gives her famous white go-go boots, the ones that were made for walkin', to the Beverly Hills Hard Rock Cafe.

November 21, 1995 Rappers Tupac Shakur and Tha Dogg Pound get into the holiday spirit by giving out 2,000 turkeys in Los Angeles.

November 5, 1995 A charity performance of The Wizard of Oz in Concert is staged at New York's Lincoln Center, featuring Jewel (Dorothy), Jackson Browne (The Scarecrow), Roger Daltrey (The Tin Man), and Nathan Lane (The Cowardly Lion).