Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and Billy Morrison of Billy Idol‘s live band have announced the third instalment of their ‘Above Ground’ charity concerts, which will feature Billy Idol, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor and more
Due to take place at the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles on December 20, the benefit show will feature Sex Pistols‘ sole studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols and Lou Reed‘s iconic Transformer performed in full by an all-star band.
Among those who will perform as part of the line-up are Corey Taylor, Billy Idol, Navarro’s Jane’s Addiction bandmate Perry Farrell, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and more.
Funds raised will be donated to the non-profit MusiCares, with raising awareness surrounding mental health also a priority for the concert’s organizers. In a statement, MusiCares’ executive director Laura Segura said proceeds from the event “will help music professionals who need various kinds of support, from physical and mental health, addiction recovery, preventative clinics, and more”.
In their own statements, Navarro and Morrison explained their reasons for choosing ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ and ‘Transformer’ as the albums celebrated on the evening. Regarding the Sex Pistols’ ground-breaking 1977 record, the pair called the album “the one that changed everything” for them, saying “something shifted forever inside us” when they heard it for the first time as kids.
As for Reed’s seminal 1972 solo album, Navarro and Morrison called ‘Transformer’ a “ground-breaking album that tore some barriers down” – specifically “the realization and education of gender and fluidity, and all the imagery that went along with that in the ’70s”.
A pre-sale for the event will launch on October 20. The latest iteration of Navarro and Morrison’s benefit follows two earlier editions in 2018 and 2019 that similarly featured performances of albums by The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, the Stooges and more in full.