Right Said Fred, Self Esteem, Big Joanie, Bishi and Abisha to perform at PRS Presents LGBTQ+
Watch on the PRS for Music YouTube channel, Thursday 27 August at 6pm
PRS for Music, in collaboration with its charity partner PRS Foundation, has announced the line-up for its latest virtual event. PRS Presents LGBTQ+ will celebrate the diversity of the organisation’s membership and the wider LGBTQ+ music community.
Taking place on Thursday 27 August from 6pm on PRS for Music’s YouTube channel, PRS Presents LGBTQ+ will see performances from acclaimed music creators including pop icons Right Said Fred, Rebecca Lucy Taylor of Slow Club’s solo project Self Esteem, Black feminist punks Big Joanie, multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Bishi and rising London based alt-R&B star Abisha.
Hosted by award-winning presenter Sabrina Grant, the packed virtual event will also include contributions and interviews with notable LGBTQ+ organisations and charities including Gendered Intelligence, Pride in Music, Co-founder and Executive Director of UK Black Pride, Lady Phyll, and Managing Director of Brighton Pride, Paul Kemp.
PRS Presents LGBTQ+ follows PRS Presents LCKDWN, a 24-hour virtual event that took place in April, with over 50 artists from across four continents performing in aid of the PRS Emergency Relief Fund, supporting music creators facing significant financial hardship as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic. To date, the PRS Emergency Relief Fund has raised £2.1 million and helped over 4000 creators in need.
We can’t wait to take part in PRS Presents LGBTQ+. Though we are unable to perform and meet with everyone in person at the moment, it’s great that we can get together and celebrate virtually as part of this spectacular line-up.
PRS Presents LGBTQ+ will be a true celebration of a wonderfully inclusive community and I am proud to be involved in the event. I’m looking forward to sharing my music with everyone and watching all involved express their creativity and passion in front of a global audience.
In these unprecedented times, we are fortunate enough to be able to bring our PRS Presents live series to the virtual stage, free for anyone to attend. PRS Presents LGBTQ+ features some amazing music creators and contributions from those at the heart of the LGBTQ+ community and we’d like to thank PRS Foundation for their help in putting the event together.
The success of the music we fund is driven by the diversity of those who create it. This collaboration with PRS for Music is a chance to shine a spotlight on some brilliant LGBTQ+ artists that we have supported in recent years including Bishi and Self Esteem, both receivers of The Open Fund and Big Joanie, who received funding to perform at SXSW. Representation really does matter, so we’re looking forward to celebrating and highlighting our valued LGBTQ+ community on Thursday.
About PRS for Music
Here for music since 1914, PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 175,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers. Redefining the global standard for music royalties, PRS for Music ensures songwriters and composers are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public.
For 110 years it has grown and protected the rights of the music creator community, paying out royalties with more accuracy, transparency and speed. In 2023, PRS for Music paid out £943.6m in royalties and collected a record £1.08 billion in revenues. prsformusic.com
About PRS Foundation
Since 2000 PRS Foundation has given more than £44 million to over 8,500 new music initiatives. 9 out of 12 Mercury Prize 2022 nominees had received PRS Foundation support (including the winner Little Simz) and the charity has supported BRITS, RPS, AIM and Ivors Award-winners.
PRS Foundation supports outstanding talent from all backgrounds, covering the whole of the UK and all genres, with grantee success stories including Little Simz, Wolf Alice, Dave, Sam Fender, Years & Years, AJ Tracey, Anna Meredith, Yola, Glass Animals, Ezra Collective, Jade Bird, Ghetts, Shiva Feshareki, Sarathy Korwar, Floating Points, Nadine Shah, The Fanatix, Imogen Heap, IDLES, Kae Tempest, Kojey Radical and Emily Burns.
Widely respected as an inclusive, collaborative and proactive funding body, PRS Foundation supports an exceptional range of new music activity through direct grants to music creators and through support for pioneering organisations, including venues, festivals, promoters and other talent development organisations. PRS Foundation founded the Women Make Music fund, co-founded global gender equality initiative, Keychange and most recently launched the POWER UP initiative to tackle anti-Black racism in music. www.prsfoundation.com
