Due in part to his efforts to “honor and uplift the heroes around the world on the frontlines of health, freedom, and justice,” renowned New York-based DJ and record producer DJ Cassidy recently hosted an expansive virtual concert called “Pass The Mic.” Cassidy, who performed at the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama and the 2008 wedding of JAY-Z and Beyoncé, among other prestigious gigs, invited many music legends to perform over the course of the livestream event.
Among the iconic artists to appear on the stream were Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & The Gang, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Howard Hewett, illustrious jazz pianist and R&B singer Patrice Rushen, and fabled Ghostbusters theme song creator Ray Parker Jr.
The concert, which originally aired via Twitch on Thursday, July 2nd, attracted over 20,000 viewers before DJ Cassidy published the session on his Instagram TV platform. You can watch it in full below.
DJ Cassidy spoke to PEOPLE about the inspiration behind the stream prior to its launch, waxing poetic about the chance to unite some of his musical heroes. “This week is my birthday week, and since I’ve been known to celebrate by uniting my friends in droves and surprising them with legendary performances by iconic artists, I wanted to find a way to revisit that tradition in light of the times,” he told PEOPLE. “One evening, during the heat of the quarantine, I FaceTimed with my dear friend and mentor, Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire. While we were catching up, his classic record, ‘That’s The Way Of The World,’ came on my speakers. Hearing that song, while on the phone with Verdine, put a smile on my face and brought me some much needed calm.”
“I thought about how fortunate I was to have friendships with many of my heroes and how lucky I was to be able to enjoy their music in their company,” he continued. “I wondered if I could find a way to share that special feeling with others, so I sat at my turntables in my living room and began Zooming with my musical heroes of [the] 1970s and 1980s, literally passing the mic from one home to the next, in [an] effort to honor and uplift the heroes around the world on the frontlines of health, freedom, and justice.”
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