Beyoncé Pledges $1 Million to Colombia Earthquake Relief as Music Industry Mobilises
Beyoncé will donate $1 million to organisations delivering food and housing supplies to communities hardest hit by the magnitude-7.4 earthquake that struck Colombia on Aug. 10, according to a press release from her company Parkwood Entertainment issued Tuesday, Aug. 25 Billboard.
The earthquake's epicentre was near San José del Palmar, in the western department of Chocó. Beyoncé's donation, described as personal, is earmarked for immediate relief — food and shelter for the areas where the quake caused the greatest loss. Parkwood encouraged the public to support two organisations already operating on the ground: Food For The Poor and World Central Kitchen PR Newswire.
She is not the only artist stepping forward. On Sunday, Aug. 23, the Bogotá benefit concert Colombia: Voces por la Vida — featuring Maluma, Eladio Carrión, Grupo Niche and more than 30 other acts — raised over 11 billion Colombian pesos (approximately $3.6 million) for affected families. At the same event, it was announced that Karol G's Con Cora Foundation had contributed $1.2 million to earthquake victims Billboard.
Shakira, working with Global Citizen, Live Nation and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), committed an initial $1.25 million to rebuild schools damaged in Chocó. Shakira's Pies Descalzos Foundation will lead that effort Billboard.
A separate relief initiative, Marea Viva por el Chocó del Mañana, is being led by Progresa Chocó, Fundación Mi Sangre, Fundación Bancolombia and Grupo Argos. Its participants span music and sport: Juanes, James Rodríguez, Mariana Pajón, Rigoberto Urán, David Ospina, Néstor Lorenzo, Manuel Medrano, Goyo, Jhon Arias, Juan Luis Guerra, Alejandro Sanz, Nicky Jam and Altafulla Billboard.
The combined response from artists, labels, athletes and corporate partners amounts to one of the broadest celebrity-led relief efforts for a single natural disaster in Latin America in recent memory. For communities in Chocó still without stable shelter or food supply, the funds are directed at immediate, practical needs — meals, materials and temporary housing — rather than long-term pledges that may take months to reach the ground.
Beyoncé's announcement was also shared through the official press account @beyoncepress on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Aug. 25 X.
