By: Jenna Shelton
jshelton@lc.edu
Like all of us regular folks, celebrities are self-isolating during the frightening Covid-19 pandemic. While their homes are definitely larger, more exorbitant and may feature movie theaters, basketball courts, bowling alleys and bars, they are facing the same uncertainty and fear we are. Also like us, they have turned to the internet and social media to relieve some of that boredom with storytelling and new songs or lyrics to beloved original sounds. Here are the top ten celebrity videos that have been posted during coronavirus, for coronavirus, or about coronavirus. Enjoy!
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On Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Samuel L. Jackson read a poem/short story entitled, “Stay The F*#k At Home”, based off the book, “Go The F*#k To Sleep” by author Adam Mansbach. Alert: Profanity Warning – this video includes multiple uses of the F-bomb and other words categorized as profane and curse words.
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The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, which is being hosted at home and with the assistance of his young daughters, interviewed comedic great, Adam Sandler. Sandler, also under quarantine, performed his new song, “Don’t Touch Grandma.” He dedicated this song he wrote to show his appreciation for the healthcare workers and essential employees braving coronavirus to make sure we are all taken care of. You can skip straight to the 1:30 mark to skip some of the interview.
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All-time great Neil Diamond changed some of the lyrics to his iconic song, “Sweet Caroline” to make a PSA (public service announcement) regarding coronavirus. He performed his 1969 hit at home with his sweet golden retriever keeping him company.
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Humanitarian and country music star Dolly Parton in conjunction with her organization, Imagination Library, will host Dolly reading a bedtime story, with printable activity sheets to go along with, online every Thursday at 7 p.m. EST for 10 weeks. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a great cost-free organization that encourages children around preschool-aged, to learn to love reading as much as she does by sending a free book every month to the child.
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Gal Gadot invited over 20 stars to sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” with each participant singing a line or two then combining into a video to send love and support to all those struggling with the coronavirus. The result has gone viral with contrevesity. See how many celebrities you can recognize!
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Jon Bon Jovi, founder and frontman of award winning band, Bon Jovi, wrote a song about the coronavirus pandemic with the help of his fans. He wrote the first line and the chorus and asked people to write a line and send it to him. The final song, “Do What You Can” is shown here in an interview with Jimmy Fallon. You can get directly to the song by skipping to 3:35.
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Songstress Gloria Gaynor took to popular app TikTok to perform her 1979 hit, “I Will Survive” while washing her hands. TikTok is a platform that allows you to lip sync to popular songs or sounds or those made by popular creators.
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Chris Mann, singer-songwriter who came in fourth place in the second season of NBC’s The Voice, has a channel on YouTube, with many newly added parody’s that cover topics related to the coronavirus. Titles include, “Thank You Frontline” ~ Alanis Morissette, “Bored As Hell” ~ Lizzo, “Hello (From The Inside)” ~ Adele, “My Corona” ~ The Knack’s “My Sharona”, and “Stay Home Vogue” ~ Madonna. Check out his channel as he seems to be updating with new material pretty often.
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“Roots” and “Star Trak” actor and host and producer of the beloved “Reading Rainbow” program that was on television for 23 seasons, LeVar Burton, is offering a way to get minds off of the coronavirus by reading for all ages on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 6 p.m. EST on his Twitter livestream. Above is an interview with CBS about LeVar Burton’s Twitter livestream events.
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John Legend promoted #TogetherAtHome by having an almost hour long concert at home with wife, Chrissy Teigen and their children on Instagram. While instructions on where to go for more information on coronavirus, Legend called out other performers, encouraging them to also promote being together at home, and performing concerts live streamed for free.
If you have any videos that you think should be added to this list send it to The Bridge’s social media pages.
