Billie Eilish, Sheryl Crow & More Musicians Join Anti-Gun Violence Coalition

Billie Eilish, Sheryl Crow and Peter Gabriel are just three of many musicians stepping up to protest gun violence by joining a coalition called Artist for Action to Prevent Gun Violence.

With a mission to end the epidemic of shootings in the United States by encouraging volunteer work, donations and voter turnout, the coalition will officially launch Sept. 22 with the first of several live events at New York’s Irving Plaza. Per Variety, this first event will feature a live performance by Bush along with several special guests. Its purpose will be to raise awareness — not just for Artist for Action, but also for Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit founded by the families of some of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.

Also part of Artist for Action: Nile Rodgers, Bootsy Collins, Sofi Tukker, Rufus Wainwright, the Pixies, LP, Old Crow Medicine Show, Halestorm, Rozzi, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild and more. Their leader is musician Mark Barden, whose son Daniel was one of 26 victims killed in the Sandy Hook shooting.

“After my son Daniel was murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I put my career as a professional guitarist on hold to devote myself to preventing gun violence,” Barden said in a statement. “Please join me and hundreds of other artists, musicians, actors, athletes, and people like you to finally end this senseless violence.”

“As a community of artists, we need to band together to make common sense change,” Eilish added.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, the U.S. has seen 488 total mass shootings in 2023 so far, and that’s with four months still left to go until the end of the year. Also at the time of publication, 29,520 people in the country have died in gun violence-related incidents this year alone.

Find tickets for Bush’s kickoff Artist for Action performance at Irving Plaza here.