One year after devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles communities, the Recording Academy charity MusiCares has directed more than $15 million toward fire relief efforts, officials announced Wednesday.
The amount includes $7 million deployed in the immediate aftermath of the fires to address urgent needs, along with ongoing recovery support. In total, more than 3,200 music professionals have been reached through direct financial assistance, health and wellness services, and long-term recovery throughout the region, the charity said.
Funds raised during the 2025 Grammy Awards telecast, MusiCares’ Persons of the Year event and additional fundraising efforts were used to help deal with housing instability, interrupted income, physical health complications and ongoing trauma.
Additional funds were directed to community partners, including California Community Foundation, Direct Relief and Pasadena Community Foundation, supporting broader recovery efforts in neighborhoods hardest hit by the fires, according to MusiCares.
While many music professionals reached out for support immediately after the wildfires, others needed time to understand what help they needed and to assess their losses. For gig-based workers whose lives and livelihoods were disrupted all at once, recovery has not followed a clear or predictable timeline, the charity said.
“Recovery does not happen on a fixed schedule,” said Theresa Wolters, executive director of MusiCares. “We continue to hear from people who have been in survival mode for nearly a year, rebuilding homes, juggling displacement, trying to keep working, and (are) only now able to focus on their own health and stability. That delayed need is a very real part of disaster recovery.”
At a recent MusiCares health and wellness clinic in Altadena, many shared that they had evacuated with only minutes’ notice, leaving behind instruments, home studios, generational homes and entire neighborhoods. Others spoke about managing asthma and other health complications from smoke exposure, supporting children through trauma and navigating the financial strain of relocation while still paying mortgages or leases on homes that no longer stand, according to the Recording Academy.
“The music community shows up for one another in extraordinary ways,” Wolters said. “Even a year later, we want people to know they are not alone and it is not too late to ask for help. Recovery looks different for everyone, and our role is to meet music professionals wherever they are in that journey.”