Dermot Kennedy celebrates the holidays, fundraising around the world. He put on two huge arena shows in Dublin for Pieta and Focus Ireland, alongside a surprise busk in NYC for Musiscares.
Dermot Kennedy rings in the holiday season with charitable performances in both the U.S. and his native Ireland. The acclaimed singer/songwriter took to the 3arena in Ireland and the streets of New York City over the course of a week to raise money for multiple important causes including Pieta, Focus Ireland and MusiCares resulting in a near combined total of $300,000 raised. It is a fitting way for the platinum-selling artist to pay it forward at the holidays, coming full circle from where he got his start busking on the streets of Dublin.
On December 11th, Kennedy surprised fans with an impromptu busking event in the heart of New York City at Washington Square Park to benefit MusiCares. Playing a no-frills solo acoustic set that was livestreamed on his Instagram and TikTok, Dermot thrilled the crowd of well over a thousand who turned out to watch his inspiring set. A highlight was his latest single, ‘Better Days’, which fittingly delivers a rousing message of hope with the promise of a new year ahead following the darkness of the pandemic. MusiCares, the leading music charity, offers preventive, emergency, and recovery programs, and acts as a safety net for supporting the health and welfare of the music community. Founded by the Recording Academy in 1989 as a U.S. based 501(c)(3) charity, MusiCares safeguards the well-being of all music people through direct financial grant programs, networks of support resources, and tailored crisis relief efforts.
Following his stop in New York City, Dermot then made a triumphant return home to Dublin where he performed two shows per night on December 13 & 14th at the 3Arena. All profits went to benefit Pieta, a nonprofit organization with suicide and self-harm crisis centers and locations across Ireland, and Focus Ireland, a nonprofit organization working to end homelessness.
Dermot took to social media to comment on the experiences. Of New York City he said, “One of my favorite things I’ve ever done in my life…. It was a beautiful energy. My first time playing in the street in about 8 years. It was never like this though….” Of the Dublin shows he shared they were “the most fulfilling thing I’ve done in my career yet… So much love that I cannot get into a caption.”
“Better Days,” out now on Island Records, has been having a viral moment, trending on TikTok with over 250,000 creates on the platform. The track was co-written by Dermot and Grammy-nominated Scott Harris (Shawn Mendes), ROMANS (Lewis Capaldi, Khalid), Daniel Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo “drivers license”) and previous collaborator Carey Willetts, with production by Nigro. Since its release it has amassed over 100 million streams, while the official music video directed by Paul Gore (Jennifer Lopez, Massive Attack)has over 8 million views; watch it HERE.
2022 will be a significant one for Dermot. With new music on the horizon, he will be playing a number if huge outdoor dates across Ireland throughout June and is also confirmed to support Shawn Mendes on the first leg of his 2022 North American ‘Wonder The World Tour’. More information is available at wonderthetour.com.
