Music

Mustafa, Shawn Mendes, Daniel Caesar and more raise $5.5 million for Sudan and Palestine aid

The Canadian musicians performed as part of an Artists for Aid concert in Los Angeles.

The Canadian musicians performed as part of an Artists for Aid concert in Los Angeles

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Mustafa wears a cap and brown trench coat while Daniel wears a blue and green jacket with a stripe in the middle.
Mustafa, left, and Daniel Caesar, right, both performed at the benefit show. (Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Netflix)

Juno-winning folk singer Mustafa put on the third edition of his Artists for Aid benefit concert on Jan. 10 in Los Angeles, raising $5.5 million for the Sudanese American Physicians Association and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

The civil war in Sudan has killed more than 40, 000 people according to several aid groups, while more than 20,000 Palestinian children have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, according to estimates by Save The Children.

"Yesterday, we raised 5.5 million dollars for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and the Sudanese American Physicians Association, a historic victory for people being buried at the hands of hells that are subsidized by us," Mustafa wrote on Instagram on Jan. 11.

"I am forever indebted to every artist, every organizer, every believer," he continued. "I am nothing but a bridge and if all I’ve done in this life is walk artists to each other, and walk artists to people whose voices are missing, then I’ve lived a life worth dying for. "

In an Instagram story, Mustafa shared that a limited edition zine featuring images and poems would be released to commemorate the show.

Mustafa's story with text about a zine.
A screenshot of Mustafa's Instagram story. (@mustafathepoet/Instagram)

Canadian musicians Daniel Caesar and Shawn Mendes performed at the event. Also on the lineup were Geese, Alex G, Blood Orange, Clairo, Chappell Roan and more, who took the stage, while model Bella Hadid and actor Pedro Pascal served as hosts.

Daniel Caesar has performed at previous Artists for Aid concerts, and this time he sang Who Knows, Superpowers and Toronto 2014, which he performed with Mustafa.

Shawn Mendes made his Artists for Aid debut and brought out Maggie Rogers to sing Youth with him. He later performed his hit song Stitches.

Mustafa's previous Artist for Aid benefit concerts took place in London in 2024, and Newark, N.J., in 2023.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Natalie Harmsen

Associate producer, CBC Music

Natalie is a Toronto-based journalist with CBC Music. Her interests lie at the intersection of music and popular culture, as she has written stories on the history of cursive singing, the rise of stomp-clap-hey music, the lucrativeness of rap beefs and more. She also presents a bi-weekly column on the songs you need to hear on CBC Radio's Here and Now.

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