Billy Bragg has been a fearless recording artist, tireless live performer and peerless political campaigner for over 35 years. He is now taking part in a new challenge to raise money for front-line healthcare workers. And, yes, that means he could end up covering Taylor Swift!
Covers for Others is a music project where musicians cover a song to raise money for causes they care about. Frank Turner, Declan McKenna, Låpsley and Lauran Hibberd have also taken part in the challenge in the past 2 weeks and raised £12,253 to date. On 25th May, it's musicians Billy Bragg's turn - fans can pay £1 to vote for the cover they want to hear, and all the money raised will be going to front-line healthcare workers via the RCN (Royal College of Nursing) Foundation’s COVID-19 Support Fund, which helps staff who are experiencing economic or psychological difficulties.
Covers For Others is a new, fun and innovative way for artists to interact with their fans while raising money for a cause they care about. Billy Bragg has chosen a list of songs for his fans to challenge him to cover. For 4 days, his fans will be able to vote for the song they want to hear by making a donation to the campaign, with each vote for a song costing £1. At the end of the campaign, Billy will learn and perform the song with the most votes and live stream his cover versions on Saturday 30th May at 7pm on Facebook.
The campaign, voting and performance are hosted on the Covers for Others website at coversforothers.co.uk, where updates will appear throughout the week under the hashtag #CoversForCarers.
Billy Bragg told us: “The RCN Foundation provides vital support for our NHS nurses and healthcare workers. Sadly, they need the Foundation now more than ever, and I’m very happy to be able to raise money to assist their work through the #CoversForCarers challenge. I’m excited to see which song you choose, so get voting! ”