Nathan Willett of Cold War Kids donned a funky shirt and strapped on his electric guitar to perform as part of the virtual series “Together At Home" on Thursday.
“These days in quarantine, always go for the fun [shirts], always go for the weird choice,” Willett said, before going into a performance of the Cold War Kids’ song, “Hold My Home.”
He followed that up with a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Waiting on a Friend.”
“I’m so glad we made these fans into a family,” he said, before turning to the piano to, at one fan's request, perform a rendition of “Beyond the Pale.” Then he returned to his electric guitar to perform “Dirt in My Eyes.”
Willett’s performances meant a lot to the fans tuning in, such as Instagram user zoe.briseno, who wrote, “Rough day and this is making it better.”
Willett followed this up by performing a cover of “River” by Bishop Briggs, an artist with whom the Cold War Kids have collaborated.
Willett was his own harshest critic for that performance.
“That did not do the song justice,” he said.
He then ended his set with another fan request — a cover of Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain,” and then played an extended guitar riff.
“What a nice riff, I could listen to that all day,” he said, and the fans likely felt the same.
The "Together At Home" campaign was launched on March 16 by Global Citizen and the World Health Organization (WHO), bringing together musicians, actors, and influencers to provide solidarity and solace to those isolating at home, as well as to support organizations and workers on the frontlines of coronavirus relief efforts and the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
On April 19, Global Citizen and WHO put together One World: Together At Home, a special digital show and broadcast that featured some of music’s biggest stars and greatest legends, including Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, the Rolling Stones, and Sir Paul McCartney. In the lead-up to One World Together At Home, dozens of artists performed daily as part of the "Together At Home" series, including Chris Martin, John Legend, Jason Mraz, and Icona Pop.
The artists combined their performances with calls to celebrate the work of frontline workers and take action to support efforts to fight the COVID-19 crisis.
There have been nearly 3,680,000 cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with over 250,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
You can see all of Global Citizen's COVID-19 coverage here.
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