Historic Fundraising Org Red Hot Returns with New Musical Collab

For over 30 years now, the Red Hot organization has been creating beautiful music while raising millions for charity with its Red Hot + series of LPs. Starting with Red Hot + Blue back in 1990, Red Hot has released 20 full-length albums and raised over $15 million for charities around the world, many of them benefitting people living with and affected by HIV.

Over the years, the project’s artistic contributors have included some of the biggest names in the music biz and the Red Hot+ albums have produced an amazing collection of priceless collaborations, including ones by Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop, David Bowie and Angelo Badalamenti, David Byrne and the Dirty Projectors, and Childish Gambino and Just a Band.

On its latest album, Red Hot + Free, we’ve been blessed by the music gods once again with a brand new inspiring collab by Sofi Tukker and Amadou & Mariam called “Mon Cheri,” which officially releases today. The American musical duo consisting of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern says working with the legendary West African duo was a dream come true.

“When Red Hot approached us about doing a collaboration, they asked us who our dream collaborators would be,” Halpern recalls. “We said Amadou & Mariam. We thought it may be a long shot but would be worth trying! Soph grew up listening to Amadou & Mariam all the time and in college, studied West African dance and music.”

Amadou & Mariam add, “‘Mon Cheri’ came at the right time — it’s a song to sing and dance to with a positive message of love.”

Indeed, the dream-come-true collaboration between the two Grammy-nominated duos produced a beautifully uplifting song and another wonderful addition to the Red Hot + institution. You can watch it below and find the song on any platform at ingroove.es/mon-cheri.

The completeRed Hot + Free LP releases July 2 and features new music from Billy Porter, who recently came out as HIV-positive, as well as Gloria Gaynor, Allie X, Casey Spooner, the Crickets, Sam Sparro, Titus Burgess, and many more. Produced by industry mastermind Bill Coleman, the double album of joyful dance music is intended to “liberate bodies and minds from an unprecedented state of lockdown.”