Every month, MusiCares offers a variety of programs, support groups, and health clinics to music people in need. This May, MusiCares is honoring Mental Health Awareness Month with a number of resources dedicated to mental health awareness and the unique struggles within the music community.

Programming kicks off with a hearing clinic at Desert Hearts Music Festival on May 6, followed by the continuation of our Musicians in Recovery series on May 9. MusiCares is also launching a brand new emotional health support group for songwriters and composers this month. 

Take a look at the full event list below to see what MusiCares has coming up. Be sure to check back here throughout the month for additional programs and updates!

May 6: Desert Hearts Music Festival

MusiCares is hosting a hearing clinic during Desert Hearts Music Festival in Los Angeles. Eligible professionals will be fitted for free, custom ear plugs during the hearing clinic. 

Additionally, MusiCares will be providing Naloxone training and distribution.

All services are open to artists and crew only, while supplies last. 

DATE: May 6
TIME: TBD

May 16: Musicians In Recovery Featuring Patty Schemel & Mix Master Mike

Presented by MusiCares & Sober 21

Join us for the second installment of our Musicians in Recovery series in partnership with Sober 21, Elia Einhorn's project in collaboration with The Creative Independent. 

Moderated by Brendan Berry, MusiCares' Mental Health & Addiction Recovery Services Client Manager, the recorded hour-long discussion will feature Patty Schemel and Mix Master Mike as they share their personal experiences getting sober in the music world. 

DATE: May 9
WATCH: Premiering on MusiCares' YouTube and Facebook pages. Link coming soon.

May 18: Care/Feel: Queer Mental Wellness in the Music Industry w/ Adam Lambert & Guests

In Partnership With Feel Something Foundation & BMG

MusiCares will be co-hosting an event with Adam Lambert's Feel Something Foundation and BMG on May 11. The hour-long panel discussion will be moderated by Adam Lambert joined by LGBTQIA+ industry professionals and artists discussing the intersection of queer identity and mental wellness in the music industry.

This in-person event is invite-only, but recorded content and coverage from the event will be shared across MusiCares' social media pages at a later date. 

DATE: May 11
TIME: 6:00PM - 9:00PM PT
REGISTRATION: In-Person Event, Invite Only

May 26-28: Cali Roots Music Festival

MusiCares is hosting a hearing clinic during Cali Roots Music Festival in Monterey, Calif. Eligible professionals will be fitted for free, custom ear plugs during the hearing clinic. 

Additionally, MusiCares will be providing Naloxone training and distribution.

All services are open to artists and crew only, while supplies last. 

DATE: May 26-28
TIME: 2:00PM - 5:00PM PT

Support Groups

In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, MusiCares is launching a brand new Emotional Health Support Group for Songwriters and Composers on May 1. Join your peers every Monday at 1PM PT / 4PM ET in discussing the unique challenges that face songwriters and composers in today's music industry landscape. Attendees have the option to attend anonymously. 

MusiCares offers 11 free weekly support and addiction recovery support groups, including groups for the women's music community, Black music community, and LGBTQIA+ communities. These music community groups are open to anyone interested in participating. 

Support groups are a safe and secure place to sort through a variety of wellness issues or concerns. Each group is led by a licensed professional, and additional assistance is available if needed. 

DATE: Weekly, Ongoing
TIME: Weekly, Ongoing
REGISTRATION: Learn more and contact a group facilitator here.

Twenty years ago, the Broadway-shaking musical 'Wicked' opened its doors in New York City — and the theatre world was never the same.

Based on Gregory Maguire's book Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West — itself influenced by L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz — the musical debuted on Broadway on Oct. 30, 2003, six months after it premiered in San Francisco, California on May 28.

Two years later, the musical was honored by the world's leading society of music people; it won the golden gramophone for Best Musical Theatre Album at the 2005 GRAMMYs.

Fifteen years and numberless inspired performances after its premiere, Ariana Grande, Ledisi and Adam Lambert as well as GRAMMY winners Pentatonix performed with original cast members Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth to celebrate 'Wicked,' in a performance dubbed the "Wicked 15 Anniversary Concert."

Also back in 2018, the play about the green witch named Elphaba also garnered a special called A Very Wicked Halloween, starring the aforementioned musical luminaries.

"The themes of the show, the love and friendship aspects," "Wicked" star Kristin Chenoweth told the San Francisco Chronicle at the time. "We can look at these two characters looking forward to seeing everything."

For Mitch Grassi from Pentatonix, it was a full-circle moment for him to perform in the special. "It's a full circle moment, we grew up with this show and the [album] kind of shaped us as performers," Grassi told Playbill.

**
'Wicked' is still on Broadway — and is about to be on the silver screen! On Nov. 27, 2024, Cynthia Erivo and Grande will star in Wicked: Part One, a film adaptation of the play. (The sequel, Part Two, is scheduled to release on Nov. 26, 2025.)**

And on the stage proper, the team behind 'Wicked' is plotting a special anniversary show at the Gershwin Theatre — and on Oct. 30, the anniversary proper, the Empire State Building will light up green in commemoration of the show.

On Halloween, the New York Public Library will hold a free panel discussion about the musical, featuring panelists in book writer Winnie Holzman, producer David Stone and composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz.

And after spooky season concludes, traveling iterations of the show will continue to roll on throughout the world — with a home base in London providing the (slightly altered) experience for Wicked fans in the United Kingdom.

Whether or not you're able to catch the film, these celebration shows, or just a good old performance, keep a little wickedness in your heart in tribute this Halloween!

Ariana Grande's Road To Wicked: How The Pop Star Manifested Her Theater Kid Dreams In The Most Full-Circle Way Possible

In the past year, artists in the LGBTQIA+ community have continued to create change and make history — specifically, GRAMMY history. Last November, Liniker became the first trans artist to win a Latin GRAMMY Award when she took home Best MPB Album for Indigo Borboleta Anil; three months later, Sam Smith and Kim Petras became the first nonbinary and trans artists, respectively, to win the GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their sinful collab "Unholy."

Just those two feats alone prove that the LGBTQIA+ community is making more and more of an impact every year. So this Pride Month, GRAMMY.com celebrates those strides with a playlist of hits and timeless classics that are driving conversations around equality and fairness for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Below, take a listen to 50 songs by artists across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum — including "Unholy" and Liniker's "Baby 95" — on Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora.

Imagine a world where care and concern is distributed in a holistic circuit, rather than being hoarded away or never employed at all. That's the paradigm that GivingTuesday is reaching toward.

Created in 2012 under the simple precept of being generous and celebrating generosity, GivingTuesday is a practical hub for getting involved in one's community and giving as freely to benefit and nourish others.

Since GivingTuesday has swelled not just from a single day in the calendar year, but a lens through which to view the other 364 days. You can find your local GivingTuesday network here, find ways to participate here, and find ways to join  GivingTuesday events here.

Where does the Recording Academy come in? Helping musicians in need isn't something they do on the side, an afterthought while they hand out awards.

No, aiding music people is at the core of the Academy's mission. MusiCares, the Academy's philanthropic arm, has changed innumerable lives for the better.

And through this society of music professionals and its other major components — including  Advocacy, the GRAMMY Museum and GRAMMY U — the Academy continues its fight in legislative and educational forms.

If you're willing and able to help musicians in need this GivingTuesday, here's a helpful hub of nine charitable organizations with whom you can do so.

MusiCares

Any list of orgs that aid musicians would be remiss to not include MusiCares.

Through the generosity of donors and volunteer professionals, this organization of committed service members has been able to aid struggling music people in three key areas: mental health and addiction recovery services, health services, and human services.

For more information on each of those, visit here. To apply for assistance, click here. And to donate to MusiCares, head here.

GRAMMY Museum

"Museum" might be right there in the name, but there's a lot more to this precious sector of the Recording Academy.

The GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles doesn't just put on immersive exhibits that honor the legacies of musical giants; it's a hub for music education.

At press time, more than 20,000 students have visited the Museum, more than 10,000 students have participated in the Museum's Clive Davis theater, and 20,000 students have participated in their GRAMMY Camp weekends.

To donate to the GRAMMY Museum, click here. To become a member, visit here.

Give a Beat

By now, the evidence is ironclad: Giving incarcerated people access to music and art dramatically increases morale and decreases recidivism.

Give a Beat is keenly aware of this, both on direct-impact and mentorship levels.

The org hosts classes for incarcerated people, in order for them to "find healing, transformation, and empowerment" through its Prison Electronic Music Program, which helps incarcerated folks wade deep into the fields of music production and DJing.

Its On a New Track Reentry Mentoring Program initiative connects music industry professionals with formerly incarcerated individuals in order to transfer their skills into a professional setting.

To become a member of Give a Beat, click here. To donate, visit here.

Jazz Foundation of America

Despite being at the heart of American musical expression, jazz, blues and roots can sometimes feel roped off on the sidelines of the music industry — and its practitioners can slip between society's cracks.

That's where the Jazz Foundation of America comes in. They aid musicians struggling to hang onto their homes, connect physicians and specialists with uninsured artists and help musicians get back on their feet after life-upending natural disasters.

To donate to the Jazz Foundation, click here; for all other info, visit their website.

The Blues Foundation

Headquartered in Memphis, the Blues Foundation aims to preserve the history and heritage of the blues — which lies at the heart of all American forms. This goes not only for irreplaceable sites and artifacts, but the living, breathing people who continue to make it.

The Blues Foundation offers educational outreach, providing scholarships to youth performers to attend summer blues camps and workshops.

On top of that, in the early 2000s, they created the HART Fund to offer financial support to musicians in need of medical, dental, and vision care.

And for blues artists who have passed on, the HART Fund diverts money to their families  to ensure their loved ones would be guaranteed dignified funerals.

For more information on the Blues Foundation, visit here. To donate, click here.

Musicians Foundation

Founded all the way back when World War I broke out, the Musicians Foundation has spent more than a century cutting checks to musicians in times of need.

This includes financial grants to cover basic expenses, like medical and dental treatments, rents and mortgages and utilities. Submitted grant applications are reviewed by their staff and a screening committee. If approved, the money is dispatched rapidly and directly to the debtor to relieve financial pressure as soon as possible.

The Musicians Foundation's philanthropic legacy is enshrined in Century of Giving, a comprehensive analysis of financial aid granted to musicians and their families by the Foundation since 1914.

For more information, visit here; click here to donate.

Music Maker Foundation

Based in North Carolina, the Music Maker Foundation tends to the day-to-day needs of American roots artists — helping them negotiate crises so they can "keep roofs over their heads, food on their tables, [and] instruments in their hands."

This relief comes in the forms of basic sustenance, resources performance (like booking venues and providing CDs to sell) and spreading education about their contributions to the American roots canon.

Check out their website for more information; to donate, click here.

Sweet Relief: Musicians Fund

When music people are in danger, this charitable organization sees no barriers of genre, region or nature of crisis.

If you're a musician suffering from physical, mental or financial hardship — whether it be due to a disability, an affliction like cancer, or anything else — Sweet Relief has got your back.

There are numerous ways to support Sweet Relief; you can become a partner, intern or volunteer, or simply chip in a few bucks for one of their various funds to keep their selfless work moving.

For any and all further information, visit their website.

Music Workers Alliance

The Recording Academy's concern and consideration for music people hardly stops at musicians — they're here to support all music people.

They share this operating principle with Music Workers Alliance, which tirelessly labors to ensure music people are treated like they matter — and are fairly remunerated for their efforts.

This takes many forms, like fighting for music workers at the federal, state and city level for access to benefits and fair protections, and ensuring economic justice and fair working conditions.

Music Workers Alliance also fights for economic justice on the digital plane, and aims to provide equal access for people of color and other underrepresented groups in the industry.

For more info, visit their website; for ways to get involved, click here.

2023 GRAMMYs: How The New Best Song For Social Change Special Merit Award Inspires Positive Global Impact & Celebrates Message-Driven Music and How To Qualify

For the past 20 years, "American Idol" has helped discover some of the biggest names in pop, country, R&B and beyond. As “Idol” winners and contestants have had success in the music industry, many have been awarded with GRAMMY wins and nominations.

Season 20 wraps up with the finale on May 22, when HunterGirl, Leah Marlene and Noah Thompson will compete to be the latest "American Idol" winner. This season has seen several contestants who play instruments or are also songwriters; the talent has been touted as some of the best Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan have seen in their five seasons as judges.

Will any of this year's finalists end up in the GRAMMY ranks with their "Idol" predecessors? Time will tell, but for now, see how many "American Idol" winners and contestants have scored GRAMMY Awards and GRAMMY nominations.

Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson and Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard were the first "Idol" winners to be nominated for a GRAMMY, both receiving nominations in 2004. Clarkson became the first "Idol" winner to win a GRAMMY two years later, when she scooped up two awards: Best Pop Vocal Album for Breakaway, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her smash "Since U Been Gone."**

Clarkson became the first "Idol" contestant to win a GRAMMY for an album twice in 2013, when she won the Best Pop Vocal Album GRAMMY for 2011's Stronger. To date, Kelly Clarkson has won three GRAMMYs and has received 15 nominations.

Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood has won eight GRAMMYs and has received a total of 16 nominations, making her the "Idol" contestant with the most GRAMMY wins and nominations. Her most recent win came in 2022, when she won Best Roots Gospel Album for her 2021 release, My Savior.

Underwood is the only "Idol" winner (and contestant) to win Best New Artist. Until 2022, she was the only "Idol" alum to even be nominated for the coveted award, but her fellow country star Jimmie Allen joined that rare rank.

Along with Underwood, Clarkson and Studdard, Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino and Season 6 champion Jordin Sparks are the only other winners to be nominated for a GRAMMY. Though Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks hasn't technically received a nomination, he was featured on Jimmy Fallon's 2012 album Blow Your Pants Off (on the track "Friday"), which won Best Comedy Album in 2013.

Season 8's Adam Lambert is the only "Idol" runner-up to be nominated for a GRAMMY. He was nominated for a Best Male Pop Vocal Performance GRAMMY for "Whataya Want From Me" in 2011.

Perhaps two of the most remarkable GRAMMY-winning "Idol" alums are Jennifer Hudson and Tori Kelly. Each have two GRAMMYs to their name, but clearly "Idol" viewers and judges didn't see the star within: Hudson placed seventh on Season 3, and Kelly was cut before the top 24 on Season 9.

Another GRAMMY-nominated finalist who finished outside of the top 3 is Chris Daughtry, who placed fourth on Season 5. Daughtry has been nominated for four GRAMMYs, all of which came in 2008 thanks to his eponymous debut album and its hits "It's Not Over" and "Home." (Fellow Season 5 contestant Ace Young co-wrote "It's Not Over," making him another GRAMMY-nominated "Idol" star, as the single earned a Best Rock Song nomination.) 

Mandisa, who placed ninth on Daughtry's season, is also a GRAMMY-winning finalist, as her 2013 album, Overcomer, won a Best Contemporary Christian Music Album GRAMMY in 2014. (She has received five nominations overall.)

Season 8's third place contestant, Danny Gokey, has also had a successful career in Christian music. He has been nominated for three GRAMMYs, with two of his albums receiving Best Contemporary Christian Music Album nods and his song "Haven't Seen It Yet" earning a Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song nom.

A number of "Idol" alums have proven you don't have to win "American Idol" to win a GRAMMY or earn a GRAMMY nomination. Whatever the outcome of Season 20, be sure to keep watch on your favorite contestants — you might just see them on the GRAMMY stage one day.

Carrie Underwood On Creating Her First Gospel Album, 'My Savior,' Working With CeCe Winans, & Making "Legacy Music"