Culture
25 Aug 20

British-Lebanese pop star Mika to perform 'I Love Beirut' livestream concert for explosion relief funds

"Beirut and Lebanon is the place of my birth, it's part of my life, it's part of my family's life. It's part of my heart," he wrote.

British-Lebanese pop star Mika is offering further support to his birthplace of Beirut by livestreaming a benefit concert following a deadly blast which killed almost 200 people earlier this month.

He will perform his special 'I Love Beirut' show on Saturday, September 19 across four different time zones on YouTube, with tickets currently on sale from €10 on Ticketmaster.

Additionally, fans can donate to the affiliated GoFundMe 'I Love Beirut' campaign, with 100% of the proceeds benefitting Red Cross Lebanon and Save the Children.

Mika (real name Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr.) also promised surprises from friends during the intimate performance, after penning an emotional open letter to the people of Beirut following the tragedy.

"After years of civil war, political upheaval and financial strife, the news of the explosions in Beirut was unbelievable. Even from afar, my heart broke as I thought of all those people who had lost their homes, their livelihoods and even their loved ones," Mika said in a video announcement last Thursday.

"I wanted to do something in any small way that I can to help the people and the situation over there. For that reason, I'll be staging a livestreamed concert in aid of the city of Beirut."

A massive explosion from a warehouse in the port area of Beirut, which held more than 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, killed nearly 200 people and injured nearly 6,000 others while leaving approximately 300,000 people homeless in the capital of Lebanon on August 4, 2020.

Mika expressed his grief and anger with his fellow Lebanese people in a letter shared with Billboard.

“Faced with this chaos, I recall a line from the Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran: ‘one can only reach dawn by taking the path of night,’” Mika wrote.

“There are divisions, echoes of conflicts at your borders, corruption, the powerlessness of your leaders, the monetary crisis which has plunged your families into misery and then the surge of the coronavirus epidemic.”

“After darkness comes the dawn. I know your resilience, your strength and your solidarity, nurtured by your mix of cultures, by this special place you occupy, halfway between the Arab world and Europe. Tomorrow, you will rise up as you have always done before.”

Watch Mika's full video announcement below: