Correction appended, March 17

Grammy award-winning artist Nelly, whose hits like Hot in Herre and Dilemma topped charts in the early 2000s, took to a stage on Friday in Erbil, Iraq to raise support for the embattled Kurds.

Nelly performed at a charity event hosted by Rwanga, a regional humanitarian organization. Ticket sales to the performance, which coincided with an annual soccer tournament, were donated to “those impacted by the recent conflict in the area,” Rwanga said.

Kurds in northern Iraq and Syria have been on the front lines of the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, which seized large swathes of both countries and came within some 25 miles of Erbil before Kurdish forces, known as the peshmerga, helped push them back with support from U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

The event—which also included a motocross show—drew 15,000 people.

Correction: The original version of this story, using information from the humanitarian group Rwanga, incorrectly described the history of American artists performing in Erbil. Other Americans performed there before Nelly.

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Noah Rayman at noah.rayman@time.com.