A streamed event featuring the Seattle rapper and other artists will recognize International Recovery Day and National Recovery Month
By Jason Langendorf
In recognition of International Recovery Day and National Recovery Month, a prerecorded concert event billed as Recover Out Loud will feature a headline performance by Macklemore and will be streamed on Sept. 30.
The concert will also feature KT Tunstall, Evvie McKinney, Daphne Willis, the Residency and other artists as part of an evolving lineup. Taped at the International Theater at the Westgate Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, the show will be streamed at 8:30 p.m. EST on iHeart Media’s Facebook and YouTube channels.
The twin pandemics of drug overdose and COVID-19, combined with millions struggling with mental health, [make] it imperative and urgent … to come together in support of solutions through the celebration of the power of recovery.”
—Ryan Hampton, organizer of Recover Out Loud
Recover Out Loud is being produced by Mobilize Recovery, an initiative of the Recovery Advocacy Project and The Voices Project. Ryan Hampton, the event organizer and founder of The Voices Project, is one of several people involved in putting on the concert who are in recovery themselves.
“The twin pandemics of drug overdose and COVID-19, combined with millions struggling with mental health, [make] it imperative and urgent for influencers, policymakers and corporations with global reach to come together in support of solutions through the celebration of the power of recovery,” Hampton said in announcing the event.
The Personal Nature of Recover Out Loud
Macklemore, the Grammy-winning Seattle rapper who has tackled addiction issues in songs such as “Drug Dealer” and “Otherside,” is in recovery himself. In an April appearance on actor Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert, Macklemore revealed that he experienced a relapse in 2020, during the height of the pandemic.
I’ve done things that I’m not proud of. But I do have that foundational level of 10 years of recovery, and I’m proud of that.”
—Macklemore
“I’ve spent most of the last 11 years in recovery, and it’s made me who I am,” Macklemore said. “I’ve compromised my life and other people around me. I’ve done things that I’m not proud of. But I do have that foundational level of 10 years of recovery, and I’m proud of that.”
Comedian Gary Owens will host the Recover Out Loud concert. Owens, who has admitted he once believed people with addiction were weak, has become a vocal advocate for addiction awareness and treatment initiatives since his brother died of a heroin overdose in 2015.
In a 2016 speech delivered to students at his high school alma mater, Owens said of his brother, “I just don’t want his death to be a statistic.”
Those attending the live Recover Out Loud concert will include frontline workers in the addiction and mental health fields, family members impacted by the afflictions and people in recovery.
Photo: AP Images
