Emma Heming Willis, Demi Moore Step Out for Bruce Willis Benefit Show (Exclusive)

Emma Heming Willis and Demi Moore stepped out together for a star-studded benefit concert honoring Bruce Willis.

The pair attended an A-list private show put on by the Soho Sessions on Nov. 5 in New York City, where they helped raise money and awareness for the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, a nonprofit that helps people affected by frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

Willis’ family announced in 2023 that the actor, 70, had been diagnosed with FTD, and his wife Heming Willis ex-wife Moore and his five daughters have rallied around him since.

Willis’ former neighbor Keith Richards, Norah Jones, Mavis Staples and Warren Haynes all performed at the intimate event at a loft in New York City’s Soho neighborhood, where guests included Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan, Whoopi Goldberg, Whoopi Goldberg and more.

“Bruce would have loved this. He always loved live music. [He’d be excited to see] all of them, because all of them are, you know, his friends,” Heming Willis, 47, told PEOPLE ahead of the show. “I think that he would’ve definitely got up there and started playing his harmonica. I’m just grateful that they would show up for this. But they also have their special relationship with Bruce.”

Looking back on when her husband received his diagnosis, Heming Willis wishes she had known “that there was support out there. I know that when we received our diagnosis, we were left with nothing, really; no roadmap, no support, nothing,” she says. And while “caregivers are really unsupported and unseen,” Heming Willis adds, “What I realized is that there actually is support there.”

Before the show kicked off, Heming Willis addressed the crowd.

“I just wanna say first thank you all for being here. This is incredible, and I love what you guys are doing here at the Soho [Sessions] to be able to raise awareness for frontotemporal dementia. This is gonna bring all of Bruce’s friends and family together. So thank you for being here. I honestly wish Bruce could be here, but he’s here in spirit,” she said.

Heming Willis added that when the Soho Sessions organizers got in touch with the idea to raise money for AFTD, “I was like, ‘Fuck yeah! Can we please have some fun?’ So, as Bruce would say, live it up. Let’s all continue to live it up and have fun,” she said. “We are here because of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. I wanna give a shout out to … the organization that has been an absolute lifeline for me and our family.”

Jones was onboard to join the A-list lineup as soon as she was asked.

“I got an email just talking about the cause, and it sounded very worthy. I saw Mavis and Keith and it was like, ‘Hey, I’m here.’ I go way back with both of them — I’ve been so lucky to sing with them, hang with them,” she tells PEOPLE.

She first met Willis years ago at an event.

“He was very kind to me one time. He was just really nice to me. He was checking on me all night because I was alone at this weird party,” Jones recalls. “And so I was happy to be here.”

The Soho Sessions are produced by Greg Williamson and Nicole Rechter and have become an exclusive experience in N.Y.C. nightlife over the past two years, with shows by Paul Simon, Gary Clark Jr., Kate Hudson and others. So far, Williamson and Rechter — who also co-founded the Love Rocks NYC benefit concert — have raised more than $75 million for various charities.

“There was an undeniable energy in the room — that feeling of connection that reminds you why live music matters,” Rechter said of the show for AFTD. “To watch these artists come together for Bruce, to play not just for an intimate audience but for a cause, was powerful and emotional. It’s a night that will stay with all of us.”

Added Williamson: “Some nights have a kind of magic you can’t manufacture, and this was one of them. You could feel the weight of the music, the love in the room and the sense that everyone there knew they were witnessing something they’d never see again.”