Jack Johnson Announces Live Benefit Album & Concert To Support Maui 

Jack Johnson, who was born in Oahu and still calls the Hawaiian island home, has announced details for a live benefit album and an intimate benefit concert with all proceeds benefiting Maui fire relief efforts.

Songs For Maui is due out digitally Sept. 15 via Brushfire and Republic Records.  The album, which features Hawaii’s own Paula Fuga and John Cruz, was recorded at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center’s Castle Theater during Johnson’s 2012 Hawaiian Islands tour.

“All our love is going to our friends and family on Maui right now. As we began to brainstorm ways we could support the community, we found tracks from an acoustic show from 2012 that Paula, John and I played at the MACC on Maui. While listening to the songs we thought back to the time we spent that spring, both on stage but also bonding with our Maui ‘ohana. We know it will be a long road ahead. We hope the positive energy from this show can carry on to help raise funds and support families in need. Aloha, Jack”

Johnson and his band take the stage at The Republik in Honolulu on Sept. 18 for a special benefit concert featuring special guests Fuga and Cruz.

Tickets go on sale Friday, Sept. 8th at 10 a.m. HST via See Tickets, with a strict four-ticket limit per order. To curb scalping, tickets will be digitally delivered 48 before the show and ticket transferability will be limited to face value resale at $125 per ticket. 

When purchasing tickets, as well as at the show, fans will have the chance to give additional donations directly to Maui fire relief efforts. 

An announcement about the benefit from Republic Records notes that “Jack and his wife Kim, together with the Johnson Ohana Foundation, made donations to the following organizations to provide immediate disaster relief and food to impacted families: Hawaii Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund, Maui United Way, Common Ground Collective, Maui Food Bank, Chef Hui, and Maui Hub. Further funds raised from the benefit album and show will be distributed with guidance from Maui’s community to best support recovery and their evolving needs.”

Johnson was recently profiled in the New York Times in a story that features Johnson’s recommendations for his favorite places in Oahu. The article pointed out that Johnson and his wife are longtime supporters of Hawaii, as well as the environment, including in 2003 founding the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, “which supports environmental education in Hawaii’s schools and communities.”

The entertainment community is rallying around Maui following devastating wildfires last month that killed more than 100 people and destroyed 2,200 structures including cultural and historic sites.

During the opening night of Aerosmith’s Peace Out farewell tour at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia Sept. 2, frontman Steven Tyler, who owns a home in Maui, implored fans to visit the island to help bolster tourism. 

Recently Dwayne Johnson and Oprah Winfrey created the “People’s Fund Maui” to provide immediate financial assistance in the form of $1,200 a month to homeowners and renters in hard hit Lahaina and Kula, where the struggle is ongoing and nearly 400 people are still missing.

Tourism drives 70 percent of the economy on Maui. The appeal for visitors is a reversal of Hawaii’s initial request that tourists stay away from the island, while relief efforts were underway. Per Gov. Josh Green’s sixth emergency proclamation, non essential travel to West Maui – including Lahaina, Nāpili, Kāʻanapali, and Kapalua – is still restricted to residents and rescue workers until Oct. 17. 

But group business and individual tourism to all other parts of Maui including Kahului, Wailuku, Kīhei, Wailea, Mākena, Pāʻia and Hāna and other Hawaiian Islands is open to help keep residents employed and the economy alive.

“The Hawaiian Islands are open for business,” said John Reyes, SVP and chief MCI sales officer for Meet Hawai’i.

NBC News reported Aug. 18, “At least 114 people have been confirmed dead, and officials estimate 1,000 more could still be unaccounted for, further complicating the arduous process of locating deceased victims and confirming their identities.”

The live entertainment industry has been asked to support the Hawaiian Islands in the wake of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in a century: 

• To maintain vital business activity and keep residents employed, maintain any business commitments in Maui/Hawaiʻi or even explore adding events in other islands (Kauaʻi, Oʻahu and Island of Hawaiʻi).
• Industry workers interested in making donations to help communities and families recover on Maui can contribute through the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund or People’s Fund Maui.
• People traveling to the region for work or leisure are urged to be especially mindful and respectful of the community as they recover. 
• The Meet Hawai‘i team is committed to informing and educating the industry regarding travel in other parts of Maui and the Hawaiian Islands of Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Lāna‘i, Moloka‘i, and Hawai‘i Island.