Elton John’s Oscar Party Raises $3 Million for Efforts to End AIDS

Sir Elton John and husband David Furnish weren’t about to let a pandemic get in the way of a party for a good cause, as they hosted their annual Oscars party in a visual format. The event was open to the public for the first time and reportedly raised $3 million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

The couple were joined by Neil Patrick Harris, Lady Gaga, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Elizabeth Jurley, Olly Alexander, Omari Douglas, and others.

“We haven’t missed a year yet, and we certainly weren’t going to miss our 29th annual Oscar Party to benefit my Foundation, even if it meant going virtual,” John says.

For the first time, tickets to the general public were available to the formerly exclusive party. Tickets were $19.99 each.

Dua Lipa performed a set from her album Future Nostalgia for the event and later returned to perform a duet with John of the 70s pop jam “Bennie and the Jets.”

John says, “It was so much fun to perform with the gorgeous Dua Lipa and open up our party to supporters all over the world.”

In addition, Lady Gaga prerecorded a message to address the mental health needs of young people living with HIV/AIDS.

“Our mental health is fundamental to our physical health and this is especially true for young people fighting HIV,” Gaga says in the video. “It’s tragic to think a quarter of adolescents living with HIV don’t have access to the medical care they need because of depression or feeling overwhelmed. The reality is we won’t end the AIDS crisis unless we care for both mental and physical health.”

The new format proved to be highly successful and might point to a reformatting of the event in the future.

John says, “I’m so grateful to Neil for hosting, everyone who attended and all my friends who participated so that we could continue this legendary event to raise vital funds to end the AIDS epidemic.”