Tag: Olivia Newton-John

Tens of thousands of Australians have united in Sydney to celebrate our resilient spirit and raise funds for bushfire relief.

Tickets to the 10-hour music event at ANZ Stadium sold out in less than a day.

Watch the video above

International acts including Queen and Adam Lambert, k.d. Lang, Alice Cooper and Ronan Keating joined some of Australia’s best artists to rock the stadium.

Comedian Celeste Barber, who raised more than $50 million with her social media campaign, kicked off the event.

An array of Australia’s favourite artists took to the stage to entertain the crowd.

Conrad Sewell performed his poignant hit ‘Healing Hands’ while music icon Daryl Braithwaite performed his classic ‘The Horses’.

Hailing from Lismore, Australian rockers Grinspoon brought the house down with an electrifying medley of hits.

“(It’s) such an honour for us,” Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamison told Sonia Kruger backstage.

“We see the devastation, not just in the Northern NSW area but all across the country, so for us to do just a little bit… it’s the least we could do really.”

Jessica Mauboy performed a selection of her biggest hits, while Delta Goodrem opened her set with a cover of the classic anthem ‘We Are Australian’.

Former Boyzone member Ronan Keating has called Australia home many times over the years. He made a special stopover in Australia from Malaysia to be part of the event.

Keating’s own brother-in-law is a volunteer firefighter on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

“I wanted people in Australia to know that we heard you and that you weren’t alone,” Keating told Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies.

“Even though we’re 12,000 miles away, it’s a small world we live in now thanks to social media and technology… it was devastating, it was heartbreaking,” Keating said.

Australian music icon Tina Arena opened up about how media coverage affected her mental health.

“My mental health suffered a lot, so I retreated from what was going on,” Arena told Sam Armytage and David Koch.

“I couldn’t watch it… I felt helpless, I felt useless. So when it came time to do this, I realised the beauty of our community.”

Aussie exports 5 Seconds Of Summer had the crowd singing along to their catchy lyrics including their ARIA number one hit, ‘Youngblood’.

But it was a powerhouse performance by the legendary Queen with Adam Lambert on vocals that had the stadium at capacity.

“It was a no-brainer,” Lambert told Sonia Kruger.

“Brian and Roger immediately said yes… we were very excited to be a part of this.”

k.d. Lang’s haunting performance of ‘Hallelujah’ brought the crowd to a standstill after a minute’s silence lead by Russell Crowe, who was personally affected by the Australian bushfires first hand.

Iconic Aussie rockers, Icehouse took to the stage shortly after 10 pm to play some of their greatest hits including ‘Electric Blue’ and the classic ‘Great Southern Land’.

The night concluded with Australian music royalty John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John.

Farnham performed hits ‘Age Of Reason’, ‘Pressure Down’, ‘Two Strong Hearts’ with Newton-John and ‘That’s Freedom.’

The climax of the night being Australia’s unofficial national anthem, ‘You’re The Voice’, where Farnham was joined on stage by Queen’s Brian May and Mitch Tambo.

Fire Fight Australia ended the night raising just over nine million dollars for key organisations providing vital “Rescue”, “Relief and Recovery” and “Rehabilitation” assistance in fire affected areas. You can still donate by heading here.