On the one-year anniversary of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires that broke out on Jan. 7, 2025, MusiCares announced it has disbursed more than $15 million in aid to over 3,200 music professionals and other victims.
MusiCares, the philanthropic arm of the Recording Academy, distributed $7 million immediately following the fires, with the remaining $8 million handed out as part of ongoing recovery efforts, according to the organization.
In the wake of the wildfires, The Recording Academy immediately turned both the 2025 Grammy telecast and its annual MusiCares Persons of the Year event (which honored the Grateful Dead) into fundraisers to raise money for immediate needs and ongoing recovery. Rebuilding has been a slow process, with local news stations reporting that out of the 6,000 houses destroyed in Altadena’s Eaton Fire alone, there are only 500 new houses under construction, and only a handful of families have been able to move back.
MusiCares funds have gone to helping rebuild not just homes but recording studios, and to purchase instruments that were destroyed. Additionally, money has gone to financial assistance and health and wellness support.
“Recovery does not happen on a fixed schedule,” said Theresa Wolters, executive director of MusiCares, in a statement. “We continue to hear from people who have been in survival mode for nearly a year, rebuilding homes, juggling displacement, trying to keep working, and only now able to focus on their own health and stability. That delayed need is a very real part of disaster recovery.”
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More recently, MusiCares received $1 million from Google’s philanthropic arm and YouTube to continue its outreach, including a portion that will go toward developing multi-lingual content to reach underserved communities affected by the fires.
“Even a year later, we want people to know they are not alone and it is not too late to ask for help,” Wolters said. “Recovery looks different for everyone, and our role is to meet music professionals wherever they are in that journey.”
While no money raised through the Recording Academy’s upcoming Grammy activities later this month is specifically earmarked for L.A. fire relief, money raised for MusiCares will be put into a general fund that will include ongoing fire relief efforts.
Music professionals who need assistance following the wildfires can contact MusiCares through musicares.org/lafirerelief.
