Red Hot Organization

Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a non-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization with goals to promote diversity through equal access to healthcare through pop culture.

Red Hot Organization

Formation	1990; 35 years ago (1990)
Founder	John Carlin
Type	International Organization
Headquarters	New York City, U.S.
Location	United States
Official language	English
Key people	John Carlin (Founder & CEO) Paul Heck (Producer) Béco Dranoff (Producer)
Website	redhot.org

Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 21 compilation albums, related television programs, and media events to raise donations totaling more than 10 million dollars for HIV / AIDS relief and awareness around the world.

The Red Hot Organization Collection was donated to Fales Library in New York City in 2006.^[1]

Early history

First founded as King Cole, Inc. by Leigh Blake and John Carlin, Red Hot was established in 1989 in response to the AIDS epidemic and its impact on artists and creators within New York City. Carlin, who previously pursued a career as an entertainment lawyer, expressed the wish to create an "AIDS charity album" to pay tribute to American singer/songwriter Cole Porter.^[2]

In 1990, the project was released, entitled Red Hot + Blue, featuring various artists.^[3]

The project was later adapted into a one-and-a-half-hour TV special, hosted by Richard Gere, Carrie Fisher and Kyle MacLachlan which aired on World AIDS Day 1990 during prime time on ABC.^[4]

In 1995: Time magazine listed Red Hot's Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool as its number one pick for the Best Music of 1994.^[5]

Red Hot + Rio 2

Red Hot + Rio 2, produced by Béco Dranoff, John Carlin, and Paul Heck; with supervising musical producers Andres Levin, Mario Caldato Jr., and Kamal Kassin; in collaboration with U.S. label E1 Entertainment, was Red Hot Organization's 15th entry into its series of tribute albums.^{[citation needed]}

Rio 2 was reviewed by critics to high acclaim. The Wall Street Journal noted that the album possessed "unusual collaboration and combinations" that would solidify Red Hot's place "in the musical landscape."^[6]

The Denver Post stated that the album was full of "summery, breezy songs" that alternately "surprises and triumphs" and ultimately deemed it "one of the most listenable records to come across our desk in months."^[7]

TRA​И​Ƨ​A + Liberation weekend

Red Hot released TRA​И​Ƨ​A a few weeks after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States,^[8] and is slated to launch a liberation weekend in Washington DC coordination with the Gender Liberation Movement in the summer of 2025. Artists involved in these projects include Kate Bush, Anonhi & The Johnsons, William Basinski, Laura Jane Grace (of Against me!), Asher White, and others.

Discography

• Red Hot + Blue (1990)
• Red Hot + Dance (1992)
• No Alternative (1993)
• Red Hot + Bothered (1993)
• Red Hot + Country (1994)
• Red Hot + Cool: Stolen Moments (1994)
• Offbeat: A Red Hot Soundtrip (1996)
• America Is Dying Slowly (1996)
• Red Hot + Rio (1996)
• Red Hot + Latin: Silencio = Muerte (1997)
• Red Hot + Lisbon: Onda Sonora (1998)
• Red Hot + Rhapsody: The Gershwin Groove (1998)
• Red Hot + Indigo (2000)
• Red Hot + Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti (2002)
• Dark Was the Night (2009)
• Red Hot + Rio 2 (2011)
• Red Hot + Fela (2013)^[9]
• Red Hot + Bach (2014)^[10]
• Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell (2014)^[11]
• Day of the Dead (2016)
• Red Hot + Free (2021)
• Red Hot + Ra: Nuclear War (A Tribute to Sun Ra: Volume 1) (2023)
• Red Hot + Ra: Solar – Sun Ra in Brasil (A Tribute to Sun Ra: Volume 2) (2023)
• Red Hot + Ra: The Magic City (A Tribute to Sun Ra: Volume 3) (2024)
• Red Hot + Ra: Outer Spaceways Incorporated (A Tribute to Sun Ra: Volume 4) (2024)
• Transa (2024)

Compilations

• Red Hot on Impulse (1994)
• Nova Bossa: Red Hot on Verve (1996)
• By George (& Ira): Red Hot on Gershwin (1998)
• Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noël Coward (1998)

Multimedia releases

• Optic Nerve (1999)
• Red Hot + Bach (in production)

Filmography

• Red Hot + Blue (VHS) (1990)
• No Alternative (VHS) (1993)
• Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool (VHS) (1994)

Red Hot + TV

Performance	Network	Year
Red Hot + Blue	ABC, Channel 4 (UK), others worldwide	1990
Red Hot + Dance	MTV, Channel 4 (UK), others worldwide	1992
Red Hot + Country	MTV, Channel 4 (UK), others worldwide	1992
No Alternative	TNN	1993
Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool	PBS, (Sundance Channel fall 2001)	1994
Red Hot + Rio	Bravo, MTV Brazil, Much Music	1996
The Beat Experience	Whitney Museum of Art	1996
Red Hot + Latin	MTV Latino	1996
Red Hot + Rhapsody	MTV, MTV Int'l	1998
Onda Sonora: Red Hot + Lisbon	MTV Int'l	1999

Reviews

A review of a 1994 Red Hot Organization one-hour music video collection noted that the affected persons depicted in the video were either gay males, injection drug users, or African. Some researchers argued that depictions such as this focus the majority viewers' attention specifically on these groups and assume that HIV is a problem for minorities, and not for the general public.^[12]