Sir Elton John has pledged $1 million for wildfire relief in Australia.
“Seeing the fires raging across Australia have left me heartbroken,” the gay singer/songwriter wrote Wednesday on Instagram. “This tragedy has taken lives, homes and devastated so much wildlife. At my Sydney show last night, I pledged $1 million dollars to support the Bushfire Relief Fund. God bless, Australia.”
John said during the Sydney show that people “should all be in awe of the work that the firefighters are doing.”
“There are people out there who have lost their lives trying to save homes, there are people who have lost their lives and their homes,” he said. “And last, is the plight of the animals and loss of their habitat that frankly, is on a biblical scale and heartbreaking.”
Other stars who’ve stepped up to support the Australian wildfire relief effort include Pink, Kylie Minogue, Metallica, Celeste Barber, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman, Chris Hemsworth, and Halsey, according to The Guardian.
Since September, 15.6 million acres have burned in Australia, killing 26 people and 1 billion animals, and destroying 2,000 homes.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that while storms have brought some relief to firefighting efforts, lightning could spark new blazes: “Prime Minister Scott Morrison has faced fierce criticism both domestically and internationally for downplaying the need for his government to address climate change, which experts say helps supercharge the blazes. … Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and liquefied natural gas, but Morrison rejected calls last month to downsize Australia’s lucrative coal industry. The wildfire disaster, which is likely to continue throughout the Southern Hemisphere summer, has galvanized calls for more global action on climate change.”
