Olivia Rodrigo has raised 20 million dollars for charities supporting women and children through her new music festival in California.
The Daisy Chain Fields event, which featured an all-female lineup, generated 10 million dollars over the weekend. The Melinda French Gates Foundation, the philanthropic organisation founded by Melinda Gates, added another 10 million dollars to the total.
The funds will be distributed among groups dedicated to promoting children's welfare and abortion rights. Beneficiaries include Planned Parenthood, a major provider of reproductive health services in the United States, and Baby2Baby, a charity that supplies essential items to children in poverty.
Other organisations receiving a share of the money are the Center for Reproductive Rights, a legal advocacy group, as well as the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, FreeForm, and Jhpiego. The Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the National Institute for Reproductive Health, and the National Women's Law Center will also receive funding.
Festival attendance
The weekend event was a success, drawing an attendance of 45,000 people despite sweltering heat in California.
The concert lineup featured performances by Rodrigo herself alongside a variety of prominent female artists. The bill included veteran musicians such as Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks and alternative rock artists Alanis Morissette, Garbage, and Bikini Kill. They were joined by contemporary acts including Chappell Roan, Doechii, and Katseye.
The initiative uses a daisy as its official icon. The event was inspired by Lilith Fair, a popular touring festival created by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan in 1996 that also featured an exclusively female lineup of performers.
Meaningful change
Rodrigo said the event demonstrated what happens when people unite and use their collective power to support one another. In a message posted to her Instagram profile to announce the festival, she said she firmly believed that joy, community, and music could serve as engines for meaningful change.
Gates said she was proud to support the vision behind the festival. The philanthropist said the work set in motion by Daisy Chain Fields would endure far beyond a single night by opening opportunities for women and girls around the world. She added that the initiative would show a new generation how important their voices are.
Recent album release
The charity event follows the recent release of Rodrigo's third studio album, titled You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love.
The project debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, the standard record chart ranking the most popular albums in the United States. It is the third consecutive time the 23-year-old singer and songwriter has managed to position her album at the top of the chart.
