CeeLo Green, Trombone Shorty to headline AIDS Walk Atlanta
Two music powerhouses are bringing the funk and the brass to Piedmont Park this weekend.
Atlanta’s own CeeLo Green and New Orleans’ Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue will headline the 34th Annual AIDS Walk Atlanta Music Festival and 5K Run on Saturday, helping raise more than $1 million for local HIV/AIDS services.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the world’s largest nonprofit HIV/AIDS health care organization, organizes the event each year. Funds raised support 12 metro Atlanta organizations providing prevention, treatment and advocacy services, including AID Atlanta, The Center for Black Women’s Wellness and Positive Impact Health Centers.
Presented by AHF Pharmacy, Wells Fargo and FedEx, the annual event combines a community walk/run with a daylong music festival.
This year’s lineup features five-time Grammy Award winner CeeLo Green and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, known internationally for blending rock, hip-hop, funk and brass into high-energy, crowd-moving performances.
Green is a member of the pioneering Atlanta rap group, Goodie Mob.
W. Imara Canady, AHF’s national director for community engagement and communications, said securing Trombone Shorty and CeeLo Green will not only raise money to support Atlanta’s HIV/AIDS community but also build greater awareness of the epidemic’s impact on the city.
In April, the Trump administration announced sweeping cuts to health care agencies that experts say will reduce HIV prevention services and hamper Georgia’s efforts to tackle stubbornly high rates of new infection.
In Georgia, 2,575 people were diagnosed with HIV in 2022, and 60,902 Georgians are living with HIV, according to the Department of Public Health.
Nationwide, about 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV, and 31,800 acquired the virus in 2022, according to health policy researchers at KFF.
“They both are deeply beloved artists that are connected to the community and target populations that are disproportionally impacted by the virus,” Canady said. “And they will continue the legacy of having the event be a party with a purpose.”
The day kicks off with DJ Sed the Saint at 9 a.m., followed by the 5K walk/run at 11 a.m.
CeeLo is set to take the stage at 12:05 p.m., followed by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue at 12:50 p.m. The festival wraps up at 2 p.m.
Past AIDS Walk Atlanta performers include Ludacris, Monica, Sevyn Streeter, Ashanti, Wale and Trina.
About the Author
Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.
