Why Noah Kahan, Billy Strings & More Support Backline’s Mission: ‘There’s Life On The Other Side Of These Harder Moments’
Categoria: Musica
For decades, music industry professionals have lacked adequate support systems. Now, Backline co-founder/executive director Hilary Gleason is ensuring they get the help they need.
Por Billboard | 30/07/2026
When Chappell Roan accepted her best new artist trophy at the Grammy Awards in February 2025, she called on record labels to cover healthcare costs for artists. “We got you, but do you got us?” she questioned. A few days later, Hilary Gleason received a call from her longtime friend, Lisa Hess, who also happened to be Roan’s business manager. The outspoken pop star wanted to make a sizable donation to Gleason’s growing nonprofit, Backline, which she had helped establish in 2019 to support the mental health of artists and music industry professionals. On Super Bowl Sunday, Gleason’s team built a fundraising page; soon after, Roan made a $25,000 donation . (An added bonus: Gleason’s Philadelphia Eagles took home the Lombardi Trophy.) “It was the single largest fundraising moment in Backline’s history,” says Gleason, 36. “It also really motivated corporations to give to Backline in a more serious way.” AEG matched Roan’s donation, as did artists including Noah Kahan, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli xcx as part of a fundraising campaign aptly called “WE GOT YOU!” Related Billboard’s 2026 40 Under 40 List Revealed Chris Brown Pleads Guilty to Lesser Charge of 'Affray' in 2023 London Club Assault Case Soulja Boy Requests DNA Test for Son With Ex Jackilyn Martinez Yet, part of Gleason was hesitant to accept Roan’s charity. Backline was built to support access to mental healthcare specifically, and Roan was calling for access to healthcare more broadly. But, Gleason says, “They really were adamant that they wanted to go with us, because how can you advocate for yourself or sign up for insurance or do anything else if you don’t have your mental health in check? That positioning of Backline and of mental health as a foundational piece toward being able to access any other benefits or rights was, I think, more of a turning point than the money.” Gleason’s professional journey began in global health and nonprofits, not the music business. As a high school senior in Durham, N.C., she helped build a training program in Uganda with a Duke University neurosurgeon, and she then pursued global and Africana studies and community health education at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her first music industry-adjacent role came in the mid-2010s on the global policy and advocacy team for action platform Global Citizen. Soon, she began consulting for touring artists, helping to pair them with resources through her own nonprofit, level (which she still runs, with clients including Femme House and that organization’s co-founder, DJ-producer LP Giobbi). At the same time, Gleason, a lover of bluegrass and jam music, became close with that community outside of work (her former partner was a member of Greensky Bluegrass). In October 2019, as it reeled from the deaths that summer of Yonder Mountain String Band’s Jeff Austin and the musician Neal Casal, both from suicide, the call to action was too loud to ignore — and Gleason teamed with eight ot