In the days leading up to the show, organizers said that they had already raised more than $60 million from ticket sales and corporate sponsorships. They say that they plan to distribute donations with the advice of the Annenberg Foundation and that aid will be distributed both for short-term relief efforts and long-term initiatives to prevent future fire disasters throughout Southern California.
On Thursday night Crystal announced that the band U2 had donated $1 million to relief efforts and that Steve and Connie Ballmer would match that donation and all others made during the telecast. (Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft chief executive and N.B.A. franchise owner, was the driving force behind the construction of the Intuit Dome, where the Los Angeles Clippers play.)
Planning for the concert came together extraordinarily quickly, spearheaded by Irving Azoff, a longtime manager and power broker in music, and his family. Within three days of the fires breaking out, the Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers, had been secured and the event had been announced with the cooperation of Live Nation and AEG Presents, who are usually bitter rivals as the world’s two largest concert promoters.
In a recent phone interview with The New York Times, Azoff said the urgency of the crisis drove the timing of the concert. With the Grammys on Sunday and the Super Bowl the next weekend, organizers felt that the show had to take place as soon as possible or be put off until the end of February. “This is about fund-raising, and you need to get the money in the bank as quickly as you can,” Azoff said.
Organizers have said that artists were quick to join the effort, with Rod Stewart the first to sign on, followed by Stevie Nicks, who plans to perform an unrecorded song.
They were followed by more than two dozen artists — young stars and older legends alike — with a focus on California-based acts, including Mitchell, Eilish, Rodrigo, No Doubt, Lady Gaga, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day. The lineup was announced on Jan. 16.
“We were very lucky in that our thing was booked almost entirely by people volunteering,” Azoff said.
Marc Hogan contributed reporting.
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