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Robert Plant has announced his involvement with the upcoming charity concert for Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy. He’s invited all of his fans to join him after a pretty tough year via Instagram.
The iconic vocalist took to Instagram to urge his fans to help for a good cause, saying he’ll be performing with Suzi Dian in the virtual concert on Tuesday 15 December at 7pm GMT.
Plant says: “After what’s been a tough year, let’s virtually get together to sing while raising money for a charity who uses the power of music to connect with others.”
Nordoff Robbins, the largest independent music therapy charity in the UK, help people who struggle with lime-limiting illnesses, isolation, or disability.
The Christmas concert will be internationally available. Alongside Plant, some of the greatest musicians and bands like Sir Cliff Richard, Sir Rod Stewart, Nile Rodgers, Robbie Williams, Florence Welch, Kaiser Chiefs, and OneRepublic will be performing. The concert is free to watch but the audience are encouraged to donate.
Streamed Globally at 7pm GMT Watch online at carols.nordoff-robbins.org.uk
The Nordoff Robbins Christmas Concert gets even bigger and better, with more fantastic names announced for the charity’s star-studded evening of Christmas carols, readings, festive messages, and spectacular musical performances. Including performances from Sir Rod Stewart, Robbie Williams, Saving Grace featuring Robert Plant and Suzi Dian, Alexis Ffrench, Mica Paris, and Friederike Krum, plus incredible readings by Bill Nighy, Lily James, Noma Dumezweni, Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE, and Freddie Fox. ‘The Stars Come Out To Sing At Christmas’ is free to watch on Tuesday 15th December.
Now joining the already spectacular line-up is music giant Sir Rod Stewart, one of the best-selling artists of all time with ten Number 1 albums to his name, who will perform his version of ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’; a classic song written in 1944 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and introduced by Judy Garland.
Also the record-breaking Robbie Williams – the 18-time BRIT Award winner with multiple hit albums and singles, who recently released the deluxe version of his Number 1 album The Christmas Present.
More artists announced today are Saving Grace featuring renowned musicians Robert Plant and Suzi Dian, Classical-Soul pioneer and pianist Alexis Ffrench, UK’s Queen of Soul Mica Paris and award-winning Mezzo Soprano Friederike Krum.
Readings for 2020’s virtual service include the illustrious Bill Nighy, BAFTA and Golden Globe winner known for his roles in Love Actually, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, as well as fellow A-list actor Lily James, star of Cinderella, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and most recently, Rebecca. Also, Olivier award-winning actress Noma Dumezweni, Artistic Director of London’s Young Vic theatre and Casualty star Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE and thespian Freddie Fox, whose theatre credits include The Judas Kiss and Romeo and Juliet
For the first time ever, the much-loved Nordoff Robbins Carol Service will be virtual, as they continue the legacy of this special event bringing family, friends and supporters together. Hosted by music’s most loved legend, Nile Rodgers, this years’ service will
bring Christmas to you at home, with special appearances from a star-studded line-up across the world.
Artists already announced include Sir Cliff Richard, Roger Daltrey of The Who, Florence Welch, Jack Savoretti, OneRepublic, Freya Ridings, Kaiser Chiefs, James Dean Bradfield from Manic Street Preachers, Simple Minds, Rebecca Ferguson, and The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue. It’s an evening jam packed with special appearances, including festive messages and readings from many special names, more still to come.
This year has been a challenge for everybody and so a host of the biggest stars are coming together to spread much needed Christmas cheer and raise valuable funds for Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, a charity that is important to every single artist involved. As they perform classic Christmas carols, share their holiday messages and bring some festive surprises along the way, viewers at home are encouraged to enjoy their own Christmas celebrations and most importantly, are invited to donate at any point during the virtual concert.
All proceeds will go to Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, the UK’s largest independent music therapy charity, who are dedicated to enriching the lives of people affected by life limiting illness, isolation or disability through music.
The appearances will come from across the globe – including the stars’ homes, the famous Abbey Road Studios and in keeping with the traditional service from previous years, the choir will be filmed from St Luke’s Church in Chelsea.
This year’s incredible line up would not be possible without the hard work of the Hipgnosis Songs Fund and its CEO and Founder Merck Mercuriadis, who along with co-founder Nile Rodgers have worked tirelessly to rally many of the artists together for the special Christmas concert.
Sandra Schembri, CEO of Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, said:
“What a wonderful event this year’s carol service is going to be. We are so thankful to everyone who is making this event reality – our funding partner, Hipgnosis Songs Fund, and partners LSEG, OpenExchange and SSE, as well as all the artists who are involved, you are helping to put on a magical evening of Christmas carols.
This year Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy has been hit really hard. Our fundraising (pre-pandemic) has always been about bringing people together to celebrate the power of music. But we have simply not been able to do this in 2020.
Now we are expecting to lose around half of our income, contributing to a loss of income of £3.5million. This means we will be able to help less people with the power of music – even though our services are needed now more than ever.
However, it’s events like this, with the support of our partners, artists and everyone watching at home, that will help us continue to meet the needs of people with music as and where we can – whether online or face to face.
I hope everyone joins in for a wonderful night and celebrates the power of music with us.”
Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy is delighted to have SSE as partner for the event, as well as Scala Radio as their media partner for a second year running, Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited as a funding partner and Modern English Digital as digital partner.