Red Hot Organisation was established in 1989 by Leigh Blake and John Carlin in response to the AIDS epidemic and its impact on artists and creators within New York City. Carlin, who previously pursued a career as an entertainment lawyer, expressed the wish to create an “AIDS charity album” to pay tribute to American singer/songwriter Cole Porter.

It was entitled Red Hot + Blue,  and featured artists such as David Byrne, Annie Lennox, Tom Waits, U2 and Erasure. Red Hot + Blue sold over 1 million copies worldwide and raised millions of dollars for AIDS charities such as AmFAR and ActUp.  It was then adapted into a one-and-a-half-hour TV special, hosted by Richard Gere, Carrie Fisher and Kyle MacLachlan which aired on World AIDS Day 1990 during prime time on ABC.

Fast forward to 2023, and Red Hot are still at it (after all AIDS is still with us) and this year they have just released  Red Hot & Ra : SOLAR. It is a Brazilian celebration of the music of Sun Ra. l and highlights incredible talent in jazz, avant-pop, rap, and poetry. 

 

 

https://redhot.org/project/solar/

Red Hot has produced 20 original projects since 1990 in collaboration with some of the most interesting and creative artists in the world.  The projects combine music, design, video  and media to entertain as well as raise awareness and money in the ongoing fight against AIDS/HIV.  Most of these are still available to download/buy  https://redhot.org/projects/