Love Rocks NYC returned to the storied\u00a0Beacon Theatre on Thursday for its 10th star-studded benefit concert for God\u2019s Love We Deliver, the long-running nonprofit that prepares and home-delivers nutritious, medically tailored meals for people affected by life-altering illness.<\/p>\n
Related: 10 Memorable Moments From Love Rocks NYC 2025 Ft. Cher, Beck, Trey Anastasio, More [Photos\/Videos]<\/a><\/p>\n The four-hour showcase rotated through a long list of stars including Billy F. Gibbons, Elvis Costello, Goo Goo Dolls, Hozier, Joe Bonamassa, Jon Batiste, Linda Perry, Mavis Staples, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Paul Simon, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Susanna Hoffs, Trombone Shorty, Warren Haynes, and more, while celebrities and comedians like Julianne Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, JB Smoove, Jeff Ross, Paul Shaffer, and kept the mood heartfelt and the mission at the forefront between acts.<\/p>\n In her introduction, Julianne Moore, the Academy Award-winning actress and self-proclaimed \u201cproud New Yorker,\u201d extolled the commitment of the countless volunteers and contributors who have made God\u2019s Love We Deliver\u2019s invaluable services accessible to those in need for 40 years and counting.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s New York to me,\u201d Moore said. \u201cNot the skyline, not the rush, but the care we take of one another.\u201d<\/p>\n The CBS Orchestra\u2019s Will Lee once again served as the musical director of the Love Rocks house band, leading a familiar cast of world-class musicians like Eric Krasno (Soulive, Phil Lesh & Friends), Ivan Neville (Dumpstaphunk), Larry Campbell (Levon Helm, Bob Dylan), Michael Bearden (Lady Gaga), Pedrito Martinez (Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Camila Cabello), Shawn Pelton (Saturday Night Live), Ricky Peterson (Stevie Nicks), and Steve Gadd (James Taylor, Paul Simon), plus a six-piece \u201cGod\u2019s Love Horns\u201d and a choir of \u201cWe Deliver Singers,\u201d many of whom have been a part of the Love Rocks project since its inception in 2017 and have seen a remarkable number of iconic musicians enter their orbit\u2014and keep coming back.<\/p>\n When surprise guest host Bill Murray, a longtime Love Rocks regular, referred to the ensemble as \u201cthe greatest band in the world right now\u201d before commandeering said collective for a charmingly chaotic \u201cWerewolves of London\u201d, it was easy to believe him. How many bands can announce a lineup as high-profile as Thursday\u2019s and still count a large portion of the list as \u201clongtime collaborators\u201d rather than \u201chigh-profile gets?\u201d How many other bands\u2019 resumes read: 10 years, 10 total gigs, $65 million raised for ailing members of their community? One night a year, when Love Rocks takes over the Beacon, New York may just be witnessing the \u201cgreatest band in the world right now\u201d\u2014a band modeled in the city\u2019s center-of-the-universe image and driven by its community ties.<\/p>\n As Whoopi Goldberg noted during one of her appearances onstage, ten years of Love Rocks NYC also marks \u201cten years of proving that music can not only move a crowd\u2014it can move a movement.\u201d<\/p>\n Per Love Rocks NYC tradition, the billed stars\u2014and a few added surprises\u2014rotated in throughout the night, most often for a cover and a song of their own. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna do one of mine and then we\u2019re gonna have some fun,\u201d Irish hitmaker and Love Rocks NYC regular Hozier confirmed midway through the show before performing an obligatory take on his own \u201cTake Me to Church\u201d and welcoming Upper West Side local and disco legend Nile Rodgers for \u201cFeelin\u2019 Alright\u201d.<\/p>\n The loving spirit of another city, New Orleans, also helped invigorate the celebration, from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band-led second line parade and Ivan Neville-sung The Meters \u201cHey Pocky A-Way\u201d cover that kicked off the night to subsequent standout moments via NOLA natives Jon Batiste (a moving \u201cA Change Is Gonna Come\u201d) and Trombone Shorty (performing with both Batiste and Elvis Costello).<\/p>\n Hitmakers from various decades connected threads to the present day: Linda Perry nodded to the late Chris Cornell with \u201cBlack Hole Sun\u201d before performing her signature 4 Non Blondes hit \u201cWhat\u2019s Up?\u201d, milking a mid-song breakdown to lead the audience through the countermelody and reflect on the parallels between the lyrics\u2019 early-\u201990s societal inspirations and today\u2019s world. Goo Goo Dolls\u2019 John Reznik quipped, \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be in a room full of love tonight, there aren\u2019t enough rooms full of love these days,\u201d before moving from a Tom Petty \u201cYou Wreck Me\u201d cover into a supremely satisfying take on \u201cIris\u201d\u2014a karaoke treatment of the highest order for his timeless karaoke classic.<\/p>\n Susannah Hoffs sang The Bangles hit \u201cManic Monday\u201d and joined Warren Haynes for Rod Stewart classic \u201cMaggie Mae\u201d. Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and \u201cqueen of hip-hop soul\u201d Mary J. Blige brought diva distinction to her 2001 hit \u201cFamily Affair\u201d.<\/p>\n Paul Simon cast a quiet spell<\/a> on the crowd for his three-song appearance, which included takes on \u201c50 Ways to Leave Your Lover\u201d (plus banter with original drummer Steve Gadd about the 1975 sessions for the track), \u201cThe Boxer\u201d (with Larry Campbell on pedal steel), and \u201cStill Crazy After All These Years\u201d (complete with its unmistakeable saxophone solo).<\/p>\n Then, as always, there were the surprises: Young guitar phenom Bay Melnick Virgolino (of recent America\u2019s Got Talent fame<\/a>) joined Billy Gibbons and Joe Bonamassa for a multigenerational tribute to the late blues icon B.B. King, Bonamassa giving the young ripper a platform just like King gave famously gave him his big break during his own child prodigy days. Tennis legend\u00a0John McEnroe joined Billy Gibbons on guitar\u2014and endured some ribbing about prohibited athletic wear onstage\u2014for a run through \u201cSharp Dressed Man\u201d. Unadvertised legend Mavis Staples, another Love Rocks fixture, joined Haynes, Hozier, and Elvis Costello on The Band\u2019s \u201cThe Weight\u201d.\u00a0Zarna Garg, the least well-known comic on the lineup of hosts, scored the evening\u2019s biggest laughs with her material about life as an immigrant New Yorker and mother.<\/p>\n After co-executive producer Greg Williamson was bestowed with the inaugural LOVE ROCKS NYC Impact Award by his fellow co-executive producers John Varvatos and Nicole Rechter, along with the God\u2019s Love We Deliver team, the show concluded with many of the evening\u2019s performers onstage for a thoroughly appropriate \u201cWith a Little Help From My Friends\u201d in the style of Joe Cocker.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s to ten years of Love Rocks NYC, 40 years of God\u2019s Love We Deliver, and 40 million medically tailored meals served to New Yorkers in need.<\/p>\n Below, check out a selection of photos from the 10th annual Love Rocks NYC at the Beacon Theatre on March 5th, 2026.<\/p>\n The tenth annual Love Rocks NYC was executive produced by John Varvatos, Greg Williamson, Nicole Rechter, produced by DPS, and presented by Bloomberg Philanthropies on behalf of God\u2019s Love We Deliver.<\/p>\n God\u2019s Love We Deliver addresses food and nutrition insecurity, and supports the health and well-being of their clients, by providing ongoing nutrition assessment, education, and counseling, advocating for food and nutrition support, and delivering medically tailored meals. It has served more than 40 million meals since it was founded during the AIDS pandemic in 1985, and currently addresses 200+ diagnoses with its medically tailored meals and nutrition services. God\u2019s Love is a non-sectarian organization serving individuals living with illness, and their children and caregivers. With a community of 20,000 volunteers, they will cook and home-deliver 4 million medically tailored meals to 15,000 individuals this year, and all services will be free to clients. For more information on God\u2019s Love We Deliver and how you can get involved, head here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 10th Annual Love Rocks NYC ft. Paul Simon, Billy Gibbons, Goo Goo Dolls, More | Beacon Theatre | New York, NY | 3\/10\/26 | Photos: Getty Images c\/o Love Rocks NYC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love Rocks NYC returned to the storied\u00a0Beacon Theatre on Thursday for its 10th star-studded benefit concert for God\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[65916,65917,65918,65919,65920,65921,65922,65923,65924,65925,65926,65927,65928,65929,65930,65931,65932,65933,65934,65935,65936,9,65937,65938,56,63,65,64,65939,65940,65941,65942,65943,65944,65945],"class_list":{"0":"post-159970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-beacon-theatre-benefit-concert-nyc","9":"tag-beacon-theatre-charity-concert","10":"tag-bill-murray-love-rocks-nyc","11":"tag-billy-gibbons-love-rocks-nyc","12":"tag-celebrity-charity-concert-nyc","13":"tag-elvis-costello-love-rocks-nyc","14":"tag-gods-love-we-deliver-benefit-concert","15":"tag-goo-goo-dolls-love-rocks-nyc","16":"tag-hozier-love-rocks-nyc-performance","17":"tag-joe-bonamassa-love-rocks-nyc","18":"tag-jon-batiste-love-rocks-nyc","19":"tag-julianne-moore-love-rocks-nyc","20":"tag-love-rocks-nyc-beacon-theatre","21":"tag-love-rocks-nyc-benefit-concert","22":"tag-love-rocks-nyc-gods-love-we-deliver","23":"tag-love-rocks-nyc-lineup-2026","24":"tag-love-rocks-nyc-march-5-2026","25":"tag-love-rocks-nyc-photos-recap","26":"tag-love-rocks-nyc-recap","27":"tag-mary-j-blige-love-rocks-nyc","28":"tag-mavis-staples-love-rocks-nyc","29":"tag-new-york","30":"tag-new-york-benefit-concert-2026","31":"tag-nile-rodgers-chic-love-rocks-nyc","32":"tag-ny","33":"tag-nyc","34":"tag-nyc-headlines","35":"tag-nyc-news","36":"tag-ove-rocks-nyc-2026","37":"tag-paul-simon-love-rocks-nyc","38":"tag-preservation-hall-jazz-band-love-rocks-nyc","39":"tag-susanna-hoffs-love-rocks-nyc","40":"tag-trombone-shorty-love-rocks-nyc","41":"tag-warren-haynes-love-rocks-nyc","42":"tag-whoopi-goldberg-love-rocks-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}