Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields doubled down on its promise to turn music and fandom into tangible action, with philanthropist Melinda French Gates announcing during last night’s (Aug. 29) inaugural festival that she will match the event’s $10 million charitable haul, bringing the total raised to $20 million and counting.
French Gates joined Rodrigo onstage at the sold-out event at Great Park in Irvine, Ca., just before Rodrigo launched her headlining set. The additional $10 million will benefit the festival’s 10 nonprofit partners, whose work spans reproductive rights, maternal health, economic security, gender-based violence, Indigenous health and other issues affecting women and girls. Even Taco Bell got folded into the ecosystem, with Rodrigo’s “You Seem Pretty Pink for a Baja Blast” campaign tying the festival to her you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love era.
“Daisy Chain Fields is about what can happen when we come together and use our collective power to support one another,” Rodrigo said. “I’m incredibly grateful to Melinda and Pivotal for believing in this mission and making the impact of our first festival twice as powerful. Most of all, I’m so excited about what this means for the incredible organizations we’re supporting and the women, girls and communities they show up for every single day.”
“Olivia Rodrigo is a force,” French Gates added. “What Daisy Chain Fields sets in motion will last far beyond a single night, by opening up opportunity for women and girls around the world and showing a new generation how much their voices matter. I’m so proud to support Olivia’s vision.”
That makes for quite an upgrade from the $10 million figure Rodrigo announced the day before the festival. As previously reported, 100% of Daisy Chain Fields’ net proceeds were earmarked for Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center for Reproductive Rights, FreeFrom, Jhpiego, Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women’s Law Center and Planned Parenthood.
Conceived by Rodrigo as something deliberately larger than a conventional music festival, Daisy Chain Fields was designed to put music, education and activism on the same stage. Produced by C3 Presents and Live Nation, the all-women lineup featured Bikini Kill, Chappell Roan, Doechii, Garbage, Mitski, Santigold, the Breeders and Rodrigo, with Sarah McLachlan and Stevie Nicks among the special guests.
The surprises also included Alanis Morissette, who joined Rodrigo in place of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O, who was unable to attend because of a family emergency. She and Rodrigo performed the ’90s favorite “Ironic,” with McLachlan joining in on “Building a Mystery” and Nicks helping close the set with Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”
Rodrigo used the festival to emphasize the community behind the cause. “Thank you so much to all the countless people who believed in the vision of Daisy Chain,” she told the crowd afterward. “Thank you to the nonprofits who work tirelessly to make our world a better place. And thank you mostly to you guys. You made this happen. You are so important and your voices matter so much.”
And then Rodrigo dropped one more bit of news before signing off: “Thank you so much, good night and I will see you next year!”
