Coronavirus concerts: John Legend, Chris Martin, Muna and more play live on Instagram

John Legend performs onstage at this year's Vanity Fair Annual New Establishment Summit in California
Getty Images

With the world's live music industry grinding to a halt, many touring artists are in disarray. It's a time of real uncertainty, with no real idea of when gigs around the world will be able to resume as normal.

However, many musicians are remaining optimistic and doing what they do best: making music. Luckily for us at home, they're deciding to live-stream it.

With Billie Eilish, Dashboard Confessional, Cher and more superstars cancelling their tours due to the pandemic, there are plenty of chances to catch your favourite artists from your own front room.

Here's our the pick of the musical live-streamers – the best concerts for your couch, in other words.

John Legend

If you're a fan of John Legend's smooth jams, you can enjoy them from tonight, alongside musings from wife Chrissy Teigen.

The couple is going live together, and hopefully we'll hear from the wider family too – look out for Luna, Miles, and Chrissy's mom, Pepper.

The Voice judge was inspired to go live by his friend, Coldplay's Chris Martin.

Teigen has already promised fan's requests including, but not limited to, The General commercial song.

Chris Martin

On Monday, the Coldplay frontman went live on Instagram, making his way through his band's hits and some covers, as well as answering fan's questions. These performances look set to continue over the coming weeks.

He's performing as part of the Solidarity Sessions: Together, At Home series, which was launched by Global Citizen Festival and the World Health Organization.

Andrew McMahon

The former Something Corporate frontman and current Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness band leader went live with a remake of R.E.M's hit It's The End Of The World, complete with updated lyrics, including lines on coronavirus and Trump.

MUNA

Girl group MUNA is killing it with the content, even remaking their hit song I Know About Place with lyrics that focus more on discontent than dancing. The forthright lyrics include the lines: "If you want to go out dancing, too bad, stay in your house you dumb b*tch, even if you are asymptomatic, you could still have it. There's a f***ing curve that we're trying to flatten."

Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie's frontman Ben Gibbard is bringing his songs to the masses on Instagram, writing, "⁣I know you are all really freaked out right now. I am too. And while I’m proud that we’re all doing the necessary things at the moment to help flatten the curve, I know it has left us all incredibly isolated.⁣"

He'll be going live from his home studio every day at 4pm PST (11pm GMT) taking requests.

It might be time for the Postal Service's We Will Become Silhouettes remix – or even a Postal Service reunion (on Instagram). With lyrics including: "I wanted to walk through the empty streets/ And feel something constant under my feet/ But all the news reports recommended that I stay indoors," the song still suits a dystopian future, even if the album did come out in 2003.

Katharine McPhee

The former American Idol contestant is going live with her husband, Gigi Hadid former's step-dad, to bring her fans their favourites.

Christine and the Queens

Chris will be performing on Instagram live each evening, “because it’s nice to have a date together every day to get rid of boredom.” If the first stream was anything to go by, expect plenty of off-the-cuff brilliance with “guests and weird concepts included”. Tune in around 6pm EST (that's 10pm GMT) to see what she gets up to.

Cafe Oto

Wonderful independent venue Cafe Oto, known for its eclectic bookings, has closed its doors to the public. However, the east London spot live-streamed a gig on March 16 with Steve Beresford and Thurston Moore, and “will be live-streaming as many more as we can over the next few weeks.” Check their schedule for a taste of what's to come.

United We Stream

Berlin's famed techno scene has been entirely shut down as coronavirus sweeps the city, but the clubbing community is pulling together to "bring the largest digital club to your home". That means any restless ravers can enjoy live-streamed DJ sets and music performances by many of the artists who usually populate Berlin's nightlife. Donations are strongly encouraged – head to the unitedwestream.berlin for more info.

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