Songs For Japan has been released on Friday, March 25 - a compilation album to benefit the ongoing disaster relief efforts in Japan. The album is available for purchase worldwide on iTunes for $9.99, and 100 per cent of the proceeds go to benefiting the Japanese Red Cross Society.
Lady Gaga, Eminem, Pink, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry are among the many artists that appear on the album. In total, 38 artists lent songs to the album, including every and all types of music from country to rock to pop and jazz.
All acts appearing on Songs for Japan – and their labels and music publishers – have waived their royalties and proceeds from the worldwide sales to the Japanese Red Cross Society. The Japanese Red Cross Society will use funds from the album to support its ongoing relief efforts and recovery assistance to Japan’s most affected areas by the earthquake and tsunamis.
Here’s the track list for Songs for Japan, according to Apple:
1. John Lennon, “Imagine”
2. U2, “Walk On”
3. Bob Dylan, “Shelter From the Storm”
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Around the World”
5. Lady Gaga, “Born This Way”
6. Beyoncé, “Irreplaceable”
7. Bruno Mars, “Talking to the Moon”
8. Katy Perry, “Firework”
9. Rihanna, “Only Girl (In the World)”
10. Justin Timberlake, “Like I Love You”
11. Madonna, “Miles Away”
12. David Guetta, “When Love Takes Over”
13. Eminem (featuring Rihanna), “Love the Way You Lie”
14. Bruce Springsteen, “Human Touch”
15. Josh Groban, “Awake”
16. Keith Urban, “Better Life”
17. Black Eyed Peas, “One Tribe”
18. Pink, “Sober”
19. Cee Lo Green, “It’s OK”
20. Lady Antebellum, “I Run to You”
21. Bon Jovi, “What Do You Got?”
22. Foo Fighters, “My Hero”
23. R.E.M., “Man on the Moon”
24. Nicki Minaj, “Save Me”
25. Sade, “By Your Side”
26. Michael Bublé, “Hold On”
27. Justin Bieber, “Pray”
28. Adele, “Make You Feel My Love”
29. Enya, “If I Could Be Where You Are”
30. Elton John, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”
31. John Mayer, “Waiting on the World to Change”
32. Queen, “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)”
33. Kings of Leon, “Use Somebody”
34. Sting, “Fragile”
35. Leona Lewis, “Better in Time”
36. Ne-Yo, “One in a Million”
37. Shakira, “Whenever, Wherever”
38. Norah Jones, “Sunrise”
The great thing about today’s technology is that it can be combined with charity efforts on a global scale. I think this is a great cause and great concept – iTunes is one of the hottest markets right now, so why not use it for good? I know many young people who don’t exactly have the money to donate, but I’m pretty sure we all have money on our iTunes account, so this little bit can help in a major way.
50 Cent took to his Twitter to mock the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan on Friday, Perez Hilton reports.
His Twitter contained jokes about those suffering in Japan, and trust me, they aren’t funny. He wrote:
“Its all good Till b*tches see there christian louboutins floating down da street shit gone get crazy.”
“Wave will hit 8am them crazy white boys gonna try to go surfing.”
“Look this is very serious people I had to evacuate all my hoe’s from LA,Hawaii and Japan. I had to do it. Lol”
He must have realized that he was being offensive to those affected, because he later tweeted an apology over the insensitive tweets:
“sorry”
“Nah this is nuts but what can anyone do about it. Let’s pray for anyone who has lost someone.”
“Some of my tweets are ignorant I do it for shock value. Hate it or love it. I’m cool either way 50cent”
I mean, is 50 Cent so desperate for attention that he has to mock death and tragedy in order to get his name out there? 50 has made homophobic tweets before as well, so it doesn’t surprise me that he’s stooped so low once again. Just because your music career isn’t as hot as it used to be doesn’t mean you have to take down everyone with you. An apology really isn’t enough either – made you should think about donating some money to help Japan recover. And not just 50 cents.
Charlie Sheen’s upcoming mini-tour to Chicago and Detroit has sold out in under 18 minutes, says TMZ.
The show, called “My Violent Torpedo of Truth,” set a Ticketmaster record this weekend as tickets were snapped up like hotter-than-hotcakes. Sheen’s camp is looking into adding more dates to the tour, as well as some additional stops in new cities.
Sheen’s website also claims that $1 from every ticket sold will be donated to the Red Cross to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
$1?! That’s a little skimpy considering some tickets are going for nearly 100 times that price!
This can’t be doing anything good for Sheen’s delusional huge ego… In fact, we’re sick of him already.
If Charlie Sheen comes to your city, will you be going to see him?
Quirky pop singer Regina Spektor has covered Radiohead’s “No Surprises” off of their hit OK Computer with all proceeds going to relief efforts in Haiti and Chile, reports Stereogum.
Her haunting take on the song is definitely worth a listen, which you can do here.
Spektor blogged, “i LOVE [Radiohead], and thank them for donating their proceeds too!!! they are the best!”
The song can be bought on iTunes. All proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders, who will then distribute the money to various aid projects for the earthquake victims in Chile and Haiti. On March 23, Spektor played at New York City’s Irving Plaza for a special Doctors Without Borders benefit concert.
Yepp – More Haitian relief.
Pop-punkers Blink-182 can now be added to the long list of celebrities who have contributed to Haitian aid.
The band has released a new t-shirt with the “Blink-182 bunny” holding a Haitian flag, and according to Mark Hoppus’s twitter account, the shirts are being sold for $15 with one hundred per cent of the proceeds going directly to the Red Cross.
After only a few days, the shirts have already raised $30,000.00.
“Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief” has announced a stellar series of concerts with all proceeds going to Haitian relief.
A superstar lineup of Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, and Sting will Appear in New York City.
Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, ?Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow will take to the stage in Los Angeles.
And finally, Coldplay, Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, and Rihanna will perform in London.
More than one hundred of the biggest names in film, television, and music will appear on “Hope for Haiti Now,” including Wyclef Jean, George Clooney, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
After the tragic earthquake that struck Haiti yesterday, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have announced that they have donated $1 million towards relief in Haiti.
According to MuchMusic.com, The Jolie-Pitt Foundation, as the couple identifies themselves, made the donation towards Doctors Without Borders, an organization that saw each of it’s Haitian hospitals destroyed.
“It is incredibly horrible to see a catastrophe of this size hit a people who have been suffering from extreme poverty, violence and unrest for so many decades,” said Jolie.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Twitter, a social-networking/messaging service, was again the first to report on a natural disaster. The first report on Southern California recent 5.4 earthquake came from a Twitter user named Caroline (Vixy). Her post was short and simple: “Earthquake.”
Twitter has simply become one of the fastest ways to disseminate information, according to the LA times article. A similar phenomena occured when a 7.8 earthquake hit China, when information about aftershocks and the status of cities in the effected area was distributed through the service to other users. Twitter now also has a new search site (formerly called Summize) which makes it even easier to find information, according to The Los Angeles Times article.
VentureBeat’s Eric Eldon posted a message on Twitter: “hope no one was hurt in SoCal earthquake. also, not looking forward to yet more posts about twitter breaking the news *first*”, as quoted in The Los Angeles Times.
Who would have thought that social networking and blogging could save lives?
An article that appeared in dailygalaxy.com reports that, in the wake of the massive earthquake that hit Chengdu, China earlier this week, people have been turning to Twitter.com as a source for reliable and quick updates on the crisis. Twitter.com is a social networking and mini-blogging site where users can constantly update their status or post entries, all in the interest of letting others know what you are doing or what is happening – vital information in a time of disaster.
According to the article, Graham Webster, an employee with CNet and a resident of Beijing, first found out about the earthquake from Twitter. Webster also said that Twitter provided him with links to hundred of other reports and pieces of information about the earthquake and what was happening in the region. Dailygalaxy.com reported that Webster informed other Twitter users of aftershocks and what the public was doing in his area.
The article also reports that Twitter.com was used in a similar fashion during the wildfires in California late last year. Twitter became an excellent source of information for many people in the area, as a regular stream of user updates with searchable tags made sure that people in the community knew of any breaking developments.
