Before the microphone was handed over to Olivia Rodrigo on stage, Melinda French Gates stepped into the spotlight first. On the evening of August 29, before the finale of the Daisy Chain Fields Music Festival in Great Park, Irvine, California, the co-founder of the Gates Foundation suddenly appeared and announced that she would donate another US$10 million through her organization Pivotal Ventures - in one night, the total doubled to US$20 million.
The story begins the day before. At a press conference on August 28, Rodrigo announced together with representatives of some beneficiary organizations that Daisy Chain Fields had raised US$10 million for 10 non-profit partners that support women and girls. She said at the meeting: "The original intention of Daisy Chain Fields is to celebrate what can happen when we come together to support each other." She also thanked everyone who bought a ticket, every artist who gave up their performance fees, and every brand who was willing to sponsor the new music festival.
French Gates' subsequent increase in investment pushed this sentence one step further to some extent. She called 23-year-old Rodrigo "a force" and praised her for "showing a new generation how important their voices are." After the festival, she wrote on Instagram: "Everything started by Daisy Chain Fields will have an impact far beyond this night."
The $20 million will be allocated to ten organizations including Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center for Reproductive Rights, FreeFrom, Jhpiego, Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women's Law Center, and Planned Parenthood. All performing artists at the festival voluntarily gave up their performance fees, and all net proceeds were pledged to be donated.
Daisy Chain Fields is inspired by the Lilith Fair launched by Sarah McLachlan in the 1990s. The lineup spans multiple generations, with two stages and non-overlapping performance times. In addition to Rodrigo, the cast also includes Chappell Roan, Doechii, Mitski, Bikini Kill, The Breeders, Garbage, Santigold, Rachel Chinouriri and Die Spitz. There is also a "philanthropy village" on site, where non-profit partners can introduce their respective work content and display community art installations on reproductive rights, maternal health, economic empowerment, domestic violence prevention and gender equality.
Rodrigo's finale performance featured Stevie Nicks, Alanis Morissette and McLachlan. McLachlan sang "Building A Mystery" and "Angel" with her, both songs dedicated to Dolly Parton; Morissette performed "Ironic"; Nicks closed the show with Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide".
This isn't the first time Rodrigo has turned a performance stage into a channel for advocacy. In 2024, she launched the Fund 4 Good project to invest part of the proceeds from the "Guts" world tour into organizations that support reproductive health rights. Her third album "You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love" was released in June this year, and will be followed by a large-scale tour "Unraveled", which is expected to arrive at The O2 in London in May 2027.
