Kylie MinogueKylie Minogue, Coldplay, Kings of Leon and Taylor Swift were among the music stars who took part in two charity concerts on Saturday night for victims of Australia’s deadly wildfires.

Tens of thousands braved heavy rain and lightning to attend the Sound Relief concerts in Sydney and Melbourne, which organizers hope will raise about $5 million Australian ($4.18 million Cdn). Last month’s wildfires in southern Victoria state left at least 210 people dead and destroyed thousands of homes.

Some of the money from Saturday’s concerts will also benefit victims of recent floods in Queensland state that left hundreds homeless.

Minogue, who flew in from a Bollywood film shoot in India to participate in the event, led the 80,000-strong Melbourne crowd in a singalong of Peter Allen’s “I Still Call Australia Home.”

“I’m so thankful I can make it home tonight and share this with all of you,” said the Melbourne native. “There’s a thing we talk about a lot, which is the Australian spirit, and I believe that it’s in evidence tonight all around the country.”

The lineup also included several bands who reunited for the event, such as Split Enz and Midnight Oil. The latter featured ex-frontman Peter Garrett, who left the band in 2002 to pursue a career in politics and is currently Australia’s environment minister.

Olivia Newton-John closed the night’s entertainment in Sydney alongside Bee Gees member Barry Gibb, with the two Australian-raised singers performing a duet of “Islands in the Stream.”

Both concerts also included a minute’s silence for victims of the wildfires.






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