Dave Matthews will no longer perform at this week’s FireAid benefit concert and MusiCares‘ 2025 Persons of the Year benefit gala. In a statement, the band revealed Matthews is dealing with “a critical illness in the family,” leaving him unable to attend either event.
Matthews was scheduled to perform with John Mayer for the first time at the FireAid concert on Thursday, Jan. 30 at the Kia Forum. The remaining lineup includes Alanis Morissette, Anderson .Paak, Dawes, Graham Nash, Green Day, John Fogerty, Joni Mitchell, No Doubt, P!nk, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stephen Stills, Stevie Nicks, and the Black Crowes. Proceeds will support victims of the Los Angeles fires.
On Friday, Jan. 31, MusiCares will host its benefit gala honoring Grateful Dead as part of Grammys Week in Los Angeles. Without Matthews, the lineup includes Dead & Company, John Mayer, Mick Fleetwood with Stewart Copeland, Norah Jones, Maren Morris, Noah Kahan, Vampire Weekend, Sierra Ferrell and Lukas Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, Billy Strings, My Morning Jacket, the War and Treaty, Sammy Hagar, Zac Brown, Maggie Rose, Wynona Judd, and the War on Drugs.
Dave Matthews Band will return to Los Angeles in August. The band announced an extensive North American tour earlier this week. It includes their first headlining performance at the Forum since 1998. Recently, Dave Matthews Band pledged $500,000 to support wildfire relief efforts through their nonprofit Bama Works.
“Established in 1999, the Bama Works Fund supports charitable programs primarily in the Charlottesville, VA area but has also responded to a wide variety of needs both nationally and internationally,” the organization’s mission statement reads. “The band is committed to sustainable touring, protecting the environment, combating climate change, and has partnered with The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees program, a global forest restoration effort with a goal of planting a billion trees across the planet.”
