Cyndi Lauper‘s annual Home For The Holidays took place over the weekend, streaming on TikTok Friday and YouTube and Facebook on Sunday. Though the yearly benefit for Lauper’s True Colors United LGBTQ+ non-profit looked a bit different this year as it went digital, it still brought together some big names including Brittany Howard, Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires, Dolly Parton, Phoebe Bridgers, Brandi Carlile, and many more.
The full lineup for the event included Adam Lambert, Bette Midler, Billie Eilish, Billy Porter, Billy Steinberg, Boy George, Carson Kressley, Cher, Harvey Fierstein, Henry Rollins, Jackson Browne, Judy Gold, Justin Tranter, Kim Petras, King Princess, LL Cool J, Meg Myers, Sharon Osbourne, Shea Diamond, Taylor Swift, Tom Kelly, Tracy Young, Whoopi Goldberg, and Youth Pride Chorus as well as the cast of Lauper and Fierstein‘s award-winning musical, Kinky Boots.
The 90-minute livestream was filled with memorable moments throughout, but some performances from familiar faces stuck out as highlights. Lauper opened the stream with her Christmas song, “Home For The Holidays” which started things off in a festive mood. Soon after (at 24:56) Bridgers appeared alongside drummer and collaborator Marshall Vore to cover McCartney Trenching‘s “Christmas Song”. The track, which Bridgers released in 2018 as her annual Christmas cover fundraiser, put a more somber spin on the season of giving.
Jackson Browne (29:41) slowed things down a bit with “Late For The Sky” in his second appearance at Home For The Holidays, immediately followed by Billy Porter (34:57) who ramped the energy back up with a lively take on Buffalo Springfield‘s “For What It’s Worth”. A little further down the road, national treasure Dolly Parton (45:42) brought back the Christmas spirit with her recent holiday single “Christmas Is”, setting the stage for Brandi Carlile’s (48:10) fitting rendition of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”.
Things kept rolling as Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires (1:11:21) teamed up to perform “The Problem“, the song they released for National Safe Abortion Day back in September. Brittany Howard (1:15:51) provided some late-show energy with a performance of “Georgia” alongside a full band, followed by an unexpected-but-welcome cover of Marc Cohn‘s “Walking In Memphis” from Cher (1:24:54). Lauper (1:30:30) then brought the show to a close with an inspiring performance of her song “True Colors”, for which her charity is named.
Watch Cyndi Lauper’s entire Home For The Holidays livestream fundraiser for True Colors United below.
Cyndi Lauper & Friends: Home for the Holidays
[Video: Cyndi Lauper]
[H/T Brooklyn Vegan]