NEW YORK (Virgin Mobile) - Tapping into the power of music, Virgin
Mobile USA announced that three powerhouse recording artists have joined on to help support The RE*Generation, Virgin Mobile's pro-social initiative to build awareness about the issues surrounding at-risk youth and teen homelessness. Deftones,
Lil' Boosie and
Zero 7 have all signed onto the innovative effort, joining Gnarls Barkley,
James Blunt,
Jewel and Panic! At the Disco, all of whom helped launch the program with Virgin
Mobile last year. In support of this effort, Deftones,
Lil' Boosie and
Zero 7 will donate their ringtone royalties on select tracks to The RE*Generation.
Virgin Mobile USA introduced The RE*Generation in 2006 in partnership with non-profits StandUp For Kids and YouthNoise, to help the millions of young people across the country who are largely "invisible" to everyday society - particularly those who are at-risk and homeless.
The following artists will donate royalties from their respective tracks, joined by Virgin Mobile who will donate 100% of its net profits from the same select tracks to The RE*Generation charitable partners:
- Grammy Award-winning experimental rock group Deftones - "Hole in the Earth" (instrumental) (Warner Music/Maverick Records).
- Rapper Lil' Boosie - "Supafly" (Asylum Records/Trill Entertainment) - The rapper's latest release Bad Azz peaked at No 5 on the Billboard Rap Album Charts and is his best-selling album to date.
- UK electronica/trip hop duo Zero 7 - "Futures" (Atlantic Records) - Zero 7 was nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award in the category of Best Electronic/Dance Album.
In addition, an exclusive interview with Chi Cheng of the Deftones about his own pro-social activities is available at www.youthnoise.com/virginmobileusa.
"The RE*Generation initiative has gained great traction in less than one year, due in large part to the musical artists who have truly stepped up to help us build awareness about the vital issues surrounding teen homelessness," said Ariel Rosen, director of pro-social initiatives at Virgin Mobile USA. "We welcome this diverse and committed group of new artists to The RE*Generation and hope our customers will continue to "download and donate" and take part in The RE*Generation by translating their good intentions into tangible actions."
In addition to downloading ringtones, Virgin Mobile customers can also contribute to The RE*Generation by sending a text message to deduct $1 from their balance as a contribution or making a cash donation via credit card at www.virginunite.com. To support the program from a corporate level, Virgin Mobile donates 5% of net profits from sales of all downloadable content (ringtones, graphics and applications) and donates 100% of its net profits from The RE*Generation ringtone downloads
