Take Your Mind Off Coronavirus with New Releases from The Weeknd, John Legend, Kelsea Ballerini and More
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, artists are finding creative ways to keep fans entertained.
From livestream concerts to acoustic cover releases, musicians are working to help folks think of other things beyond the health crisis. As of Friday, there are at least 12,392 confirmed cases of the virus in the United States and at least 195 people have died from coronavirus-related illness in the nation.
West Virginia reported its first case on Tuesday evening, officially confirming that the virus has spread to all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Globally, there are at least 246,275 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 10,038 deaths have resulted from the illness.
Stars are giving back to help those that may be affected by the virus. On Thursday, Kanye West donated an undisclosed amount to charities in Los Angeles and his hometown of Chicago in efforts to provide meals to children, families and the elderly impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Ciara and Russell Wilson announced that they will be donating one million meals to a local food bank to support relief efforts during the outbreak.
John Sciulli/Getty; Theo Wargo/Getty; Matt Winkelmeyer/ACMA2018/Getty John Legend, The Weeknd, Kelsea Ballerini
RELATED: The Weeknd Releases After Hours — His First Album in Four Years
Earlier this week, country star Dierks Bentley gave each of the 90 hourly employees that work at his Nashville bar $1,000 as the restaurant temporarily closed down in efforts to reduce the virus’ rapid spread. Florida Georgia Line followed his lead shortly after.
A list of new music from The Weeknd, Kelsea Ballerini, John Legend and Lukas Graham that may help as the outbreak continues to develop is below:
The Weeknd, After Hours
The Canadian artist’s fourth album, also his first album in four years, dropped early Friday morning, and the 14-track collection runs about 56 minutes.
Kelsea Ballerini, kelsea
The country star dropped her third album, kelsea, on Friday. “The first one was the handshake, the introduction; the second one was my chronological story; now we’re on a first-name basis, we’re friends at this point,” Ballerini told PEOPLE.
Adam Lambert, Velvet
The American Idol alum and Queen frontman is back with his fourth studio album — check out the video for the title track, which features Lambert as a tailor.
John Legend, “Actions”
The Grammy winner dropped this new track, which follows “Conversations in the Dark,” on Friday. Both songs will appear on his upcoming album, to be released this year.
Lukas Graham, “Scars”
The below video was filmed by Graham’s wife while social distancing at their home in Denmark. “Scars come in many shapes and forms. The physical ones are often the easiest to deal with, while psychological scars, can be very hard to cope with because no one can see them so we have to actively share them,” the singer said in a statement.”We need to talk about these things in order to heal.”
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments and visit our coronavirus hub.
