Los Angeles, CA. (Top40 Charts/ MusiCares) - WHO: Performances by Patti Austin, Dan Aykroyd & Jim Belushi ("The Blues Brothers"),
Andrea Bocelli, Melanie Brown, Shirley Caesar, Aretha Franklin, Anthony Hamilton, Herbie Hancock, Roy Hargrove, Faith Hill, Fantasia, Lang Lang, Ledisi, John Legend, Lil' Mama, Jamia
Simone Nash, Corinne Bailey Rae,
Robin Thicke, Trin-I-Tee 5:7 and BeBe & CeCe Winans. Special appearances by Bill Cosby and Blair Underwood.
Attendees include MusiCares Foundation President and The Recording Academy President/CEO of Neil Portnow, and MusiCares Foundation Board Chairman John Branca, who also serve as dinner chairs. Other dinner chairs include music and entertainment industry executives Clive Davis, Berry Gordy, and The Recording Academy's 50th Celebration Ambassador Quincy Jones. Past MusiCares® Person of the Year honorees include Tony Bennett, Bono, Natalie Cole, Phil Collins, David Crosby, Gloria Estefan, Don Henley, Billy Joel, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, Sting, James Taylor, Brian Wilson, and Stevie Wonder. A host of celebrities, along with prominent music industry and entertainment executives, are also scheduled to attend.
WHAT: Seventeen-time GRAMMY-winning recording artist Aretha Franklin will be honored as the 2008 MusiCares Person of the Year at a special event celebrating her extraordinary musical achievements and her philanthropic commitments to children's and healthcare organizations, and various churches and food banks in the Detroit metropolitan area. Proceeds from the annual Person of the Year tribute provide essential support for MusiCares, which ensures that music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical and personal need. For more information, please visit www.musicares.com.
GALA: The Person of the Year benefit begins with a cocktail reception and silent auction sponsored by AEG featuring art works, music and sports memorabilia, travel, hotel and spa packages and VIP concert experience packages. A gala dinner sponsored by VeriSign will follow. The celebration is highlighted by an award presentation and star-studded tribute concert. Gibson Foundation has generously continued its support with cash and product contributions.
The reception will feature a special live auction presented by Julien's Auctions and broadcast live on Auction Network.com with real-time interactive bidding technology. The live auction will offer an exclusive selection of celebrity memorabilia and VIP experiences and will be open to bidding from event guests as well as online and telephone bidders around the world. Featured items include: a pink Cadillac CTS Sedan inspired by Aretha Franklin's "Freeway Of Love"; a private painting lesson with Tony Bennett and renowned portrait painter Everett Raymond Kinstler; the guitar Elvis Presley used during his last show at the Las Vegas Hilton; a Bill Clinton signed saxophone; "Stairway To Heaven" sheet music autographed by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones; an Indy 500 VIP experience; an Ultimate GRAMMY VIP experience; and wardrobe and/or instruments used by Ray Charles, Kurt Cobain, Peter Frampton, Elton John, John Lennon, Jerry Lee Lewis, Madonna, the Rolling Stones, Slash, Bruce Springsteen and many more. To complement this memorable evening dedicated to raising funds and awareness, Christian Audigier, creator/owner of Ed Hardy, has designed an exclusive t-shirt. Along with him, Philip Simon and John Berenbaum of PSDI-USA, who own the license of Ed Hardy shoes, have created a special sneaker/tennis shoe in support of the Foundation. Both items will be sold that evening as well as on the Web sites of MusiCares (www.musicares.com), Ed Hardy (www.donedhardy.com) and PSDI USA (www.psdiusa.net) to benefit MusiCares. Additional event sponsors include: Classic Wines of California and EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services.
WHERE: Los Angeles Convention Center, West Hall
1201 S. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, Calif. 90015
Parking: West Hall Lot, off Cherry Street
Cost: $12 (no valet available)
WHEN: Friday, Feb. 8, 2008
5 p.m. Media Check-in (at Gilbert Lindsay Plaza)
5:30 p.m. Red Carpet Arrivals, Cocktail Reception and Live and Silent Auction
7:30 p.m. Gala Dinner
9 p.m. Award Tribute & Concert
MEDIA R.S.V.P. MANDATORY: 310.854.8354 (or [email protected])
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: If you are interested in covering this event, you MUST request credentials no later than Monday, Feb. 4, 2008. Credentials will be picked up at media check-in on the day of the event. All crews must be self-contained, ENG crews. All satellite truck/van parking must be coordinated with Eileen Thompson no later than Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008. ALL MEDIA MUST BE CREDENTIALED for this event.
Established in 1989 by The Recording Academy, MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares' services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly impact the health and welfare of the music community. For more information, please visit www.musicares.com.
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. In its 50th year, The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com.
AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center, The Forum (as exclusive booking agent for sports and entertainment programming), the El Rey Theatre, Toyota Sports Center, NOKIA Theatre Times Square, NOKIA Theatre at Grand Prairie and The Home Depot Center; sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Manchester Monarchs (AHL), Reading Royals (ECHL), four MLS franchises and privately held management of shares of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) and Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA); AEG Marketing, a sponsorship, sales, naming rights and consulting company; AEG Merchandising, a multifaceted merchandising company; AEG Creative, a full-service marketing and advertising agency; and AEG Live, a collection of companies dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performance, touring for a variety of programming and multimedia production.
VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), operates intelligent infrastructure services that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the world's voice and data networks. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.
Gibson Foundation is the philanthropic division of Gibson Guitar Corp., the world's premiere musical instrument manufacturer and leader in music technology. The mission of Gibson Foundation is to make the world a better place for children by creating, developing and implementing programs as well as through its support of other nonprofit organizations that advance education, music and the arts, the environment and health and welfare causes. For more information please visit www.gibsonfoundation.org.
With expertise specializing in entertainment memorabilia, Julien's Auctions has quickly established themselves as the premier auction house in high profile celebrity and entertainment auctions. Julien's Auctions presents exciting, professionally managed and extremely successful auctions with full color high quality auction catalogues unlike any other auction company. Previous auctions include the collections of Cher, Madonna, U2, Barbra Streisand, Muhammad Ali, Debbie Reynolds, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, and the estate of Marilyn Monroe to name a few.
Based in Tulsa, Okla., Auction Network is the first 24/7 multimedia network solely dedicated to auction. Auction Network's executive team, combines strong cable network backgrounds from years at TV Guide Disney, Fox, Liberty Media and CNN with substantial auction experience at the helm of Williams & Williams Worldwide Real Estate Auction (www.williamsauction.com). The network launched on Oct. 28, 2007, at www.auctionnetwork.com.
