Red Nose Day: How 'Game of Thrones,' Ed Sheeran raised money for charity

The first American Red Nose Day was held on May 21 and culminated in a three-hour telethon on NBC with appearances by various actors and singers.

According to New York Daily News, more than $10 million had been raised by halfway through the show and “Late Night” host Seth Meyers, “The X-Files” actor David Duchovny, and Jane Krakowski of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” served as hosts for the event. The show brought attention to various causes with which viewers may not have been familiar and some of the charities that NBC worked with for the event included charity: water, Feeding America, LIFT, and Save the Children. Check out the full list of charities here. 

The event is based on UK charity Comic Relief's Red Nose Day telethon, which has been held for almost 30 years. The fundraiser has raised more than £1 billion ($1.6 billion) in its history, according to Red Nose Day's website.

The US version of the program alternated pre-taped segments with live performances. Musical segments included songs by the band U2 and singers Keith Urban and John Mellencamp, who teamed up for a song.

Two of the segments that got viewers talking the most were singer Ed Sheeran performing Muppet member Kermit the Frog’s famous song “Rainbow Connection” with Kermit. The two engaged in banter before performing the track. “Could all you folks please call in and help to donate for kids and help them out?” Kermit asked before the song. “It would mean a lot to me,” Sheeran said. “It would mean a lot to thousands of kids around the world, but most of all, it would mean a lot to Kermit, because he’s not allowed to go back to the swamp unless he brings back the bacon.” “Some green,” Kermit added. 

Another popular segment was the band Coldplay attempting to make a musical version of the smash hit HBO fantasy series “Game of Thrones.” There had already been a preview released of “Thrones” actor Peter Dinklage singing a track about the amount of characters who have met their end on the show, but the full video also included actor Kit Harington singing a song titled “Wildling” about his wildling love interest Ygritte (Rose Leslie); actress Emilia Clarke, who plays ruler Daenerys Targaryen, singing a reggae-themed track titled “Rastafarian Targaryen”; and actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays knight Jaime Lannister, singing a piano ballad about his love interest Cersei (Lena Headey) called “Closer to Home.” (Viewers should know there’s brief adult language in this clip.)

Viewers can still donate via the Red Nose Day website.