Paul Weller, Madness, Bobby Gillespie and Glen Matlock Join London’s Artists for Gaza Fundraiser

Paul Weller, Madness, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock are among the names set for London’s next Artists for Gaza fundraiser, a show that keeps expanding beyond the usual charity-gig optics and into something more clearly tied to Britain’s musical old guard.

This Sunday, May 17, the event returns to the Scala in London to raise money for Health Workers 4 Palestine’s Gaza Medics Solidarity Fund, which supports the rebuilding of maternity wards in Gaza, mobile clinics and stipends for Gazan medics. Tickets and donations are available here.

The scale of the previous Artists for Gaza events gives this one some context. The first two raised more than £55,000 for UNICEF’s Gaza appeal, money that helped provide food, medical care and shelter for people in Gaza facing a humanitarian crisis. In September, a UN commission inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a claim Israel has denied, according to BBC News.

This year’s lineup pulls together a broad cross-section of British music history. Weller will perform alongside Matlock, Madness members Suggs, Barso, Bedders and Lee Thompson, Roxy Music saxophonist Andy Mackay, Kevin Rowland, and Clive Langer of Deaf School.

The DJ bill is similarly loaded. The Specials co-founder Jerry Dammers, Gilles Peterson, Simon Bartholomew, Aitch B of Soul II Soul, DJ Prime Cuts, David Holmes, The Beirut Collective, Jeremy Healey, Lascelles Gordon and Gillespie are all set to play.

Gillespie, who has been increasingly visible on the Palestine fundraising circuit, described Artists for Gaza founder Chris Sullivan as “an old friend who I respect very much,” and said that when he heard what Sullivan was planning, “I said I would love to be involved.” He continued: “I believe it’s the human rights issue of our time. A grave historical injustice has been done to the Palestinian people. Our government are complicit in the genocide prosecuted by Israel. I support the Palestinian people’s struggle for equal rights and justice.”

Rowland, whose presence adds another strand of post-punk and new wave lineage to the event, framed his participation in starker terms: “I want to play Artists for Gaza because it’s my duty as a human being to do whatever I possibly can. Innocent people are being slaughtered and our government don’t care.”

Beyond the main stage, the night stretches into several rooms and scenes. Further live sets are due from acid jazz band Galliano, Natty Bo and the Top Cats, the Errol Linton Band and The Black Kat Boppers. There will also be a vintage vinyl room featuring Eddie “Acid Jazz” Pillar, Bob Jones, Snowboy, Dean Thatcher and Paul “Smiler” Anderson, plus Northern Soul sets from Wigan Casino mainstays Amanda and Val, 6Ts all-nighter at the 100 Club founder Ady Croasdell and Lewisham’s Heart of Soul Squad.

A reggae room will bring in another layer of veteran selector culture, with MC Kinky, Oxman, Dub Vendor, producer Howie B, Gaz “Rockin Blues” Mayall, Keith Lawrence of Mi-Soul, Darren Bennet and dancehall trailblazer Father Festus Coxsone among those listed.

Paul Simonon of The Clash and Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream DJing at ‘Artists For Gaza’ benefit, 2025. CREDIT: David Corio/Redferns

The event is also being held in memory of Finbar Sullivan, the son of Chris Sullivan and Leah Seresin, who was killed in April this year. According to press materials, Finbar was deeply affected by the suffering of children in Gaza and was heavily involved with Artists for Gaza from the start, which is why the dedication is being described as a fitting one.

The line between this event and earlier Palestine solidarity work from Gillespie and Weller has already been drawn before. In 2024, both joined Kneecap for a Gig For Gaza charity show at the O2 Academy Brixton, part of a wider effort to bring together “some extraordinary talent to raise much-needed funds and awareness.” Proceeds from that night went directly to MAP (Medical Aid For Palestinians) and Gaza Forever, both of which provide essential support including food, medical supplies and emergency shelter.

Earlier still, Primal Scream collaborated on a shirt design for a Palestinian refugee football team, while Weller has said he is “against genocides and ethnic cleansing” and has performed with a Palestinian flag draped over his guitar amp. Both artists also signed a letter from Heavenly Recordings backing the right to freedom of expression for musicians and artists, after the backlash to Kneecap’s public support for Palestine and the pressure to remove them from festival bills.