Elton John pledges to donate $1 million in Australian bushfire relief: 'We have to stand together and fight'
Sir Elton John announced that he would be donating $1 million towards efforts to combat the devastating bushfires raging across Australia. The announcement was made after a concert in Sydney, prompting the crowd to give the legendary singer a standing ovation.
Elton John, who first performed in Australia in 1971, announced the donation while speaking to the crowd at the Sydney Super Dome on January 7, according to ABC.
Elton, 72, told the crowd they should be in "awe" of the firefighters, who are battling round the clock to extinguish fires that have gutted more than 18 million acres of land already.
"There are people out there who have lost their lives trying to save homes," he said, "there are people who have lost their lives and their homes. And lastly, there's the plight of the animals. A loss of their habitat that frankly is on a Biblical scale, and heart-breaking."
"Therefore, tonight I will be pledging $1 million to support the bushfire relief fund," he added, as the crowd gave him a rapturous ovation.
Elton urged Australians to "come together" during this difficult time and continued, "as I said earlier, this is a magnificent country and I love it here so much and to see what is happening here breaks my heart, and so we have to come together and we have to fight."
"This is my bit towards it. To those who have lost their homes, God bless, I hope that your life will be repaired very, very soon. I want to say thank you Australia again, and God bless."
Elton joins a long line of celebrities who have come out in recent times to pledge donations to fight the bushfires.
Earlier this week, Australia's very own Chris Hemsworth took to Instagram to announce he would be donating $1 million to firefighters as well as to organizations and charities that are working to support and provide relief during this "devastating and challenging time".
Similarly, the likes of P!ink, Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban, and Kylie Minogue have pledged to give $500,000 to relief efforts, while Ellen DeGeneres, Margot Robbie, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge have also called for people to donate towards the cause.