When Grammy Award-winning rock band Linkin Park founded nonprofit organization Music for Relief and its Power the World initiative, frontmen Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington wanted to do their part to help the more than 1 billion people in the world without electricity.
Partnering with Hard Rock International, Shinoda designed a limited-edition run of T-shirts, dubbed the Linkin Park Signature Series: Edition 31, joining Hard Rock’s Signature Series initiative, where musicians create merchandise that supports worldwide causes.
“The most exciting part of our partnership with Hard Rock is that it helps people,” Shinoda says. “There are people in the world who cook dinner over fires and people who have to perform emergency surgery at night via candlelight.”
The line debuted Aug. 9 at the Roppongi Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo. The shirt, available for a limited time online and at select Hard Rock locales, costs $26, with 15% of profits benefiting the organization.
“The proceeds of this shirt will buy clean-energy cook stoves for families who only have access to dirty cooking materials,” Shinoda says. “It will buy ‘solar suitcases’ to power things like hospital lights and medical devices in remote areas of the world without energy access.”
“We are deeply moved by their efforts to raise awareness and relief for those in need through Music for Relief and the Power the World campaign,” says Alex Merchan, senior director of marketing at Hard Rock International.
Hard Rock’s Signature Series, which launched in 1990, has raised millions of dollars for charitable causes worldwide. With its Edition 31 line, Linkin Park joins a roster of such high-profile acts as U2, the Who, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Jon Bon Jovi and Shakira that have participated in the initiative.