FireAid, with Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga, is the latest in a long line of massive benefit concerts

FireAid, featuring Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Sting, Red Hot Chili Peppers and others in a fundraiser for Los Angeles-area wildfire relief efforts, is the latest event to combine music and philanthropy.

Thursday’s concerts at the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, will be streamed on YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV+, and numerous other sites, but whether the fractured cultural landscape will unite around them the way it has in the past remains to be seen. Benefit concerts have come a long way since George Harrison’s “The Concert for Bangladesh” at Madison Square Garden in 1971.

Here’s a look at some of the biggest:

British rockers Bob Geldof and Midge Ure expanded their Band Aid charity single “Do They Know It's Christmas?” into daylong concerts in London and Philadelphia, starring dozens of music’s biggest stars — from Paul McCartney, David Bowie and Queen to Madonna, U2 and Tina Turner.

CAUSE: Ethiopian famine

IMPACT: The concerts, broadcast live to 150 countries, eventually raised $140 million and awareness of the need in Ethiopia. The fundraiser also showed the power of pop music to inspire action, leading to decades of similar events.

John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Neil Young took the Band Aid template and applied it to small farms in the Heartland, with performances from the organizers, as well as Loretta Lynn and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, before becoming an annual fundraiser.

CAUSE: U.S. family farms

IMPACT: The concerts have raised $80 million over the years to help family farms survive and build a market for the food they produce.

To rally support and resources for a New York City dazed by a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Paul McCartney united famous friends and Big Apple neighbors — David Bowie, Billy Joel, Jay-Z, The Who and others — at Madison Square Garden for a defiant celebration of heroes and a memorial for those who were lost.

CAUSE: The 9/11 attacks

IMPACT: The concert and associated merchandise raised $35 million distributed by The Robin Hood Foundation to the families of those killed or injured in the World Trade Center attacks.

After the massive Hurricane Sandy stunned the Northeast with both wind and flooding damage and more than 70 deaths, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel and The Who banded together to raise funds at Madison Square Garden and raise spirits in the region mired in months of cleanup.

CAUSE: Hurricane Sandy aid

IMPACT: The concert and associated merchandise sales raised $50 million, distributed by The Robin Hood Foundation to nonprofits supporting residents as they started to rebuild.

After a suicide bomber attacked an Ariana Grande performance, killing 22 concertgoers, Grande returned to Manchester, England, to raise funds for those injured or killed in the attack. Grande headlined the concert, which also included performances by Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and Robbie Williams.

CAUSE: Survivors of the Manchester bombing

IMPACT: The concert, broadcast in 38 countries, raised $24.5 million for those affected by the bombing.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

FILE - George Michael, from left, concert promoter Harvey Goldsmith, Bono of U2, Paul McCartney, concert organizer Bob Geldof and Freddie Mercury of Queen join in the finale of the Live Aid famine relief concert, at Wembley Stadium, London on July 13, 1985. (AP Photo/Joe Schaber, File)

FILE -David Bowie, front left, and Bob Geldof, right right, appear at the end of the London part of the Live Aid famine relief concert at Wembley Stadium in London on July 13, 1985. (AP Photo/Joe Schaber, File)

FILE - Willie Nelson performs at Farm Aid 2002 in Burgettstown, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2002. (AP Photo/Jasmine Gehris, File)

FILE - Willie Nelson entertains the audience while performing at the Farm Aid Concert in Camden, N.J. on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006. (AP Photo/Tim Larsen, File)

FILE - Singer Willie Nelson speaks during a news conference on July 28, 1995, in Louisville, Ky., where it was announced Louisville had been selected as the site for Farm Aid's 10th anniversary concert. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke, File)

FILE - Jesse Ed Davis, center right, a guitarist of Kiowa and Comanche ancestry, performs with George Harrison, left, formerly of the Beatles, at the Concert For Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden in New York on Aug. 1, 1971. (AP Photo/Jim Wells, File)

FILE - Willie Nelson smiles backstage during the 25th anniversary Farm Aid concert in Milwaukee on Oct. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps, File)

FILE - Signage for the "12-12-12" concert is displayed on the Madison Square Garden jumbotron, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, April 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)