Lizzo and Toki Wright to headline benefit show at the Varsity Theater
January 09, 2015
Lizzo and Toki Wright (with producer/collaborator Big Cats) will headline a show Jan. 10 at the Varsity Theater to benefit To The Bridge Foundation.
To The Bridge supports individuals struggling with addiction on their way to recovery. Proceeds from the show will go toward helping people working through chemical dependency build bridges to the next stage of their lives.
Lizzo said she's excited to perform with Toki Wright and support a cause she believes in. “I’ve seen a lot of drug and alcohol abuse in my life,” the rapper and singer said in a press release. “It’s never something someone chooses for themselves. It’s a disease.”
She added that having control over your body and self is important to her and something she has focused on over the past year. “Whether it’s getting over body dysmorphic issues or dealing with alcohol addiction, it’s this idea of taking care of yourself,” she said. “I want to continue focusing on that.”
It's been a big year for both Lizzo and Toki Wright. Lizzo performed at festivals in Europe and America—including Rock the Garden—and made her national TV debut on Late Night with David Letterman. Wright and Big Cats released Pangaea, an album that landed them both in the top ten of the Star Tribune's critics poll and in the City Pages Picked to Click poll.
The Current's Barb Abney will host the event. "I'm really excited to be hosting the To The Bridge benefit on Saturday night!" says Barb. "Both Lizzo and Toki Wright are a couple of the Twin Cities' most uplifting performers!"
To hear Wright talk about the year in local music, listen to the Dec. 14 edition of the Local Show. Also check out Lizzo's moving "Truth About Self-Acceptance" video (below), and listen to local musicians talk about music and mental health at our Dissonance event last month.
The benefit concert begins at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10. Tickets for the 18+ event are $21.50-$51.50 and can be purchased online as well as at the Electric Fetus and Down in the Valley.
Hailey Colwell is a journalism major at the University of Minnesota and a co-director of Theatre Corrobora.
