Look To The Stars News: Radiohead

Latin Grammy Winners Fight Exploitation And Trafficking

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:30:00 +0000

Nineteen-time Latin Grammy winners Calle 13 joined forces with UNICEF, MTV Latin America and Tr3s: MTV, Música y Más last week to launch the MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign within Latin American and US Hispanic communities.

The multi-media campaign aims to reach Spanish-speaking youth in Latin America and the US to increase awareness and prevention around human trafficking and exploitation through creative content, digital media interaction, community events and opportunities for direct participation.

Lured by false promises offering opportunities for a better life, at least 550,000 children, adolescents and youth have become victims of trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean; often forced into unsafe sexual practices and drug use, they are at a heightened risk of contracting HIV.

Ian McKellen And Friends Appear In Charity Video

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Sir Ian McKellen, Samantha Fox and Paul O’Grady are three of the stars who have taken part in a new advertising campaign for a British charity.

The famous faces feature in a new PSA for the Albert Kennedy Trust, an organization that provides a range of services for young lesbian, gay, bi and transexual people in the UK. Set to Radiohead’s classic song, Creep, the video also features Sue Perkins, Hollyoaks star Kieron Richardson and actor Andrew Hayden-Smith.

“We’ve used some well-known personalities in these tough situations to help let young LGBT people know where they can turn for support,” said Robert Harwood-Matthews, president of TBWA UK. “TBWA London is hugely proud to be a part of a such a groundbreaking campaign that hopes to increase awareness and shift behaviour towards a cause that too often goes unrecognised.”

EMI Artists Band Together For Japan

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Artists and songwriters from one of the biggest music companies in the world, EMI, have united for an incredible worldwide celebrity charity auction of personal items and memorabilia to raise funds to help the Red Cross support people affected by last month’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The charity auction, which will be managed by eBay, features items from some of the world’s biggest stars, including Coldplay, Norah Jones, Katy Perry, Garth Brooks, George Harrison, Darius Rucker, John Lennon, Gorillaz, Iron Maiden, Jane Birkin, the Beach Boys, David Guetta, Michael Franti, Lady Antebellum, The Chemical Brothers, Depeche Mode, Celtic Woman, 30 Seconds To Mars, Rosanne Cash, Daft Punk, Herbert Grönemeyer, Angela Gheorghiu, Keith Urban, Good Charlotte and The Beatles.

Radiohead Releases Charity DVD For Haiti

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Fans of British band Radiohead have released a DVD of the special charity show they played in Hollywood for Haiti in January.

The band played the gig at the Music Box @ Fonda on January 24, with proceeds going to victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. Radiohead For Haiti is an HD release that features 24 tracks recorded by concertgoers in the audience. Proceeds from the DVD will go to Oxfam.

Radiohead Singer Creates Human Sculpture For Climate Awareness

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Radiohead front man Thom Yorke teamed up with the 350 Earth climate campaign this weekend to create a massive human sculpture to raise awareness of climate change.

More than 2,000 people braved the wind and rain to form an image of King Canute designed by the singer.

Celebrities Make The Sound Of Silence For Charity

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:00:00 +0000

It’s a charity single with a difference – two minutes of complete silence.

Featuring Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Andy Murray, Mark Ronson, Brian Ferry and many others have taken part in the “recording”, which will benefit The Royal British Legion.

For just 99p the UK public can show their respect, support and thanks to those Armed Forces personnel who have made sacrifices for us all. The ‘2 Minute Silence’ single will be available for download on i-Tunes from Sunday 7 November.

Film Scores To Be Performed At Celebrity Charity Concert For Care

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:30:00 +0000

A huge number of British stars – including Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, the Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson, Little Britain’s Matt Lucas, Jimmy Carr, Paloma Faith and Imogen Heap – will hit the stage in London on October 18 for the Concert For Care.

The concert will raise money for CARE International, and will feature the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra playing some great film scores conducted by the composers themselves. The event is being organized by composer David Arnold.

CARE tackles the underlying causes of poverty so that people can become self-sufficient. Recognizing that women and children suffer disproportionately from poverty, CARE places special emphasis on working with women to create permanent social change. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives.

Radiohead Puts It Right For UNICEF

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Radiohead has donated their song Videotape to a new video for UNICEF’s Put It Right campaign, which asks people to take five minutes of their time to protect children’s rights to childhood.

The five year campaign aims to raise £55 million, demand action by the government and put children’s rights at the heart of the UK’s approach to children.

“We want people to think about their own childhood and then see what everyday life is like for so many children all round the world,” said Director of Communications at UNICEF UK, Victoria Rae. "This film is window into a different day-to-day world – it’s a childhood where there is no school summer holidays because children don’t go to school. These are children who are missing out their basic rights – to learn, to clean water, to be healthy, to be looked after and just to be a child.

Regina Spektor Covers Radiohead For Charity

Wed, 05 May 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Regina Spektor, the Russian born singer-songwriter, has recorded a new version of Radiohead’s “No Surprises” to benefit the Doctors Without Borders’ Disaster Relief Fund to aid the continuing recovery of earthquake victims in Haiti and Chile.

The tune went up for sale on iTunes on April 27, 2010, for $1.29.

In March 2010, Ms. Spektor spent time at New York City’s Fillmore at Irving Plaza raising money for Doctors Without Borders (also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres).

Jay-Z To Headline Coachella For Charity

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:00:00 +0000

The 3-day Coachella music festival kicks off in Indio, California, today – with a huge number of bands raising money for charity.

Among the performers at the event will be Jay-Z, Dave Grohl’s Them Crooked Vultures, Perry Farrell, Vampire Weekend, Hot Chip, Faith No More, Corinne Bailey Rae, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Gorillaz, Little Boots and many many more.

Beneficiaries of the festival include the Silverlake Conservatory of Music – an organization established by Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea that offers children in LA access to free instruments and music lessons – and the Indio Youth Task Force, which is dedicated to creating positive opportunities for the youth of Indio.

Oxfam Auction For Haiti Raises Celebrity Charity Cash

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:00:00 +0000

The recent Oxfam auction to help survivors of the Haitian earthquake has raised US$190,000 for the charity.

“I’d like to thank everyone involved,” said Emily Eavis, organizer of the auction and of the Glastonbury music festival. “Everyone’s been so generous, it’s fantastic to see how much people care. When we first had the idea of an auction for Haiti I never imagined we would raise so much. This should really help to rebuild some of what was lost.”

The auction featured a massive range of items donated by stars such as Radiohead, Coldplay, Chris Martin, Annie Lennox, Rolf Harris, Pearl Jam, the Arctic Monkeys, Bryan Ferry and many more.

Oxfam Launches Celebrity Charity Auction For Haiti

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:20:00 +0000

Oxfam UK has launched a massive celebrity charity auction to raise much-needed funds for their work in Haiti.

Coldplay and Chris Martin are leading the charge by donating a Viva La Vida tour jacket, with Dido, Status Quo and PJ Harvey also donating used clothes. Annie Lennox has donated one of her favorite paintings, while Rolf Harris has donated a painting he created himself. The Arctic Monkeys have donated a guitar, and there are items from the Pet Shop Boys, Pearl Jam, Placebo, Bryan Ferry, Mika and many more.

You can also pick up items from Radiohead, who played a special gig in Los Angeles during the weekend to raise cash for the charity. Held at the Music Box Theatre At The Fonda, the gig included the debut of a new song – Lotus Flower – previously only performed at Thom Yorke’s solo shows.

Rockers Beat For Peace In Darfur

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Joining the efforts to prevent any more bloodshed in Sudan, drummers from rock bands including Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Snow Patrol are taking part in the Beat For Peace campaign created by Faithless drummer Jamie Catto.

The Beat for Peace campaign is a film which calls for an end to conflict in the African country after millions died in the civil war which ended in 2005. The documentary, which is part of the wider Sudan365 campaign, features the musicians alongside other artists from Sudan, Australia and Japan.

“I wanted to be involved in this project because I think music is such a powerful way of bringing people together. Of course, I’m biased in thinking that what’s underpinning it all is always the beat – always drummers,’” said Radiohead’s Phil Selway, “Hopefully this film will show that together people can make a huge noise and through this film I hope people’s focus will be brought back to what is happening in the Sudan over this very important next year.”

Celebrities Donate Items To Beat Land Mines

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

British band Radiohead have joined with David Byrne, Clive James, James Morrison, Snow Patrol, Pink, Paul McCartney and many others in donating items to an auction to raise funds for and awareness of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG).

MAG is giving you the rare chance to bid on some extra special signed merchandise and music memorabilia as part of the Music Beats Mines festival.

Music Beats Mines is a campaign to raise funds and awareness of MAG’s lifesaving work across the world. For three months they have been making noise for peace and staging events under the MBM banner. Now they’re encouraging people to make some bids for peace and get involved in the online auction running on Ebay between 27th November and 6th December.

Radiohead Release Charity Song For Royal British Legion

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:30:00 +0000

British band Radiohead has released a song in tribute to a World War 1 soldier who died last week, with proceeds to go to charity.

Harry Patch (In Memory Of) was released yesterday, August 5, for download from the band’s online store. Harry Patch – who passed away on July 25 at age 111 – was the last known British World War I veteran.

The 5 and a half minute song costs £1 (US$1.70) to download, and proceeds will be donated to The Royal British Legion, which promotes the welfare of former military personnel and their dependants.

The Killers Launch Video Against Sex Trafficking

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Rockers The Killers have partnered with UNICEF and USAID to produce a music video that dramatically highlights the dangers and impact of trafficking for sexual exploitation, particularly for young women.

The video, for the band’s track Goodnight, Travel Well from the album Day & Age will premiere globally across all of MTV’s properties on-air and on-line on Monday July 13 2009. This video represents the second in a series of music video collaborations to highlight the dangers and impact of human trafficking that launched last year with an award-winning film produced by MTV EXIT for the Radiohead single All I Need.

The Killers commented, “We are deeply shocked and appalled that women and children are forced into such exploitative situations. We hope that through MTV’s efforts and this powerful video millions of people across the world learn about this tragic form of modern-day slavery.”

Neil Finn Gathers Musical Friends For Charity Album

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Crowded House singer Neil Finn is behind a new charity album that aims to raise money for Oxfam.

The double album, to be called The Sun Came Out, was recorded during the musician’s Seven Worlds Collide charity concerts in January and features contributions from Radiohead’s Phil Selway and Ed O’Brien, The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg, multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano, and Wilco members Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone.

“7 Worlds Collide is a great project – I hope The Sun Came Out is a huge success,” said Jeremy Hobbs, Director of Oxfam International. “Not just because it’s a unique musical experience but because each CD sold will make a difference – raising money to fund Oxfam’s work to fight poverty.”

Radiohead Donates Song To Shelter Charity

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:30:00 +0000

British band Radiohead will feature in a new television campaign for a charity dedicated to the homeless later this month.

The band’s song Videotape will feature in the new advert, which aims to raise awareness of Shelter – a charity that makes a tangible difference to the lives of people in desperate housing need through providing practical help, putting pressure on government, and raising public awareness of the housing crisis.

The advert – called House of Cards (which is, incidentally, the name of another Radiohead song) – will be voiced by British actress Samantha Morton.

Scarlett Johansson And Annie Lennox Sign Oxfam's Climate Letter

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:30:00 +0000

Nineteen actors, musicians and activists signed a letter drafted by international aid agency Oxfam to tackle the issue of climate change in December.

The letter was written to world leaders who attended the UN climate negotiations in Poland and urged them to lead the way and show the political will demonstrated in the face of economic crisis so that dangerous climate change can be averted.

Scarlett Johansson, broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo, Colin Firth, Missy Higgins, Kristin Davis, Thom Yorke, Annie Lennox, Ian McEwan, Jarvis Cocker, Bill Nighy and Gael Garcia Bernal were among the stars to put their signatures to the letter.

Seven Worlds Collide For Oxfam

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Here’s a series of events that our Southern Hemisphere readers will want to mark in their diaries for the New Year: Neil Finn is holding his Seven Worlds Collide concerts to benefit Oxfam in January.

The concerts – which will feature Radiohead’s Phil Selway and Ed O’Brien, The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg, multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano, Wilco members Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone, and New Zealand musicians Liam Finn, Don McGlashan and Bic Runga – will be held at the Powerstation in Auckland, New Zealand, on January 5, 6, and 7.

It is the second time the Crowded House frontman has held his Seven Worlds Collide concerts. He introduced the concept in 2001, and released a successful live album of the events. This time round the star-studded band will repeat the exercise for Oxfam.

Radiohead Auctions Remix For Missing People

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:00:00 +0000

A four-hour video remix of a Radiohead song is to be auctioned on eBay to raise money for charity.

Videotape is a song off the band’s In Rainbows album, and has been remixed for the extra long one-off release by James Rutledge (AKA Pedro). The VHS remix is signed by all of the members of the band, who gave their full support to Rutledge for the project.

Proceeds from the auction will go to Missing People, the UK’s leading charity for missing and unidentified people. The charity addresses an important cause for Rutledge, whose former bandmate Dave Tyack went missing in Corsica in 2002 and was found dead in 2004.

Jack Johnson, Oasis, Radiohead Appear On Charity CD

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Urban Outfitters and Filter Magazine have teamed up to create the fifth installment of the Give.Listen.Help compilation CD to raise money for the Pablove Foundation.

The Pablove Foundation is named after Pablo Castelaz, the five-year-old son of Dangerbird Records co-founder Jeff Castelaz and his wife Jo Ann Thrailkill. On May 17, 2008, Pablo was diagnosed with bilateral Wilms’ Tumor, a rare form of children’s cancer. The cancer appeared out of nowhere, with no warning signs in Pablo’s general demeanor or health. He is currently undergoing treatment at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and is doing extremely well. Thanks to decades of research and treatment at places like CHLA, Wilms’ Tumor is over 90% curable.

A large percentage of the proceeds from the CD ($13.88 of every $14.99) will be donated to the Foundation, which directly supports the pediatric cancer community in and around CHLA.

Neil Finn's New Album Gets Crowded For Oxfam

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:15:00 +0000

Crowded House frontman Neil Finn has invited a host of well known musicians to join him in recording a new album for charity.

Finn has invited the core band – and a few special guests – from his 2001 Seven Worlds Collide series of live shows and accompanying live album to create a new album at Roundhead Studios in Auckland, New Zealand, with proceeds going to support Oxfam.

Guests confirmed so far are Radiohead’s Phil Selway and Ed O’Brien, The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg, multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano, Wilco members Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone, and New Zealand musicians Liam Finn, Don McGlashan and Bic Runga.

Radiohead Are Friends Of The Earth

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:30:00 +0000

British alternative rockers Radiohead are the latest band to turn their current world tour environmentally-friendly.

The band – which consists of Thom Yorke on lead vocals, Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien on guitar, Colin Greenwood on bass, and Phil Selway on drums – are reducing their carbon emissions by limiting the amount of equipment they take with them, using low-energy LED lights and refillable water bottles, and making all of their merchandise from recycled materials. It is an effort that has not escaped notice from Friends of the Earth, whose spokesperson Anna Mitchell is delighted with the band’s attempts to be eco-friendly.

“I’m not sure whether it is the most environmentally friendly tour ever, but it certainly feels like it,” she said. “They are doing everything they possibly can to cut emissions. It’s incredibly impressive.”

Radiohead Joins Child Labor Awareness Campaign

Fri, 02 May 2008 12:05:11 +0000

With a 20-year history of raising awareness for human rights and environmental causes, Radiohead is no stranger to the activist scene. And now, in partnership with MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking), the band has released the “All I Am” video to bring child labor practices into the spotlight.

“It’s cool that MTV is taking this up, because normally, this is something I only get to talk to people about who are considered ‘extreme left-wing’ or whatever, but it’s good it’s hitting the mainstream, because I don’t consider it a left-wing issue; I consider it a political-stability issue,” he told MTV UK. “I think if [the campaign] does one good thing, it would be to make this concept of slavery — which is what it is — less taboo. If they can make it something that is OK for us to talk about, and for politicians in the West to actually accept that this is an issue, well, then we’re doing a good thing.”

There are currently more than 2.5 million men, women and children who are forced, defrauded or coerced into various forms of labor or prostitution. Radiohead recommends checking out Amnesty International, Witness and The The Fair Trade Resource Network to learn more.