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 as well as various churches and food banks in the Detroit metropolitan area. MusiCares, one of the most prestigious and highly-anticipated events during GRAMMY® Week, is being held on Friday, February 8, 2008 - two days prior to the 50th Annual GRAMMY® Awards - and will include dinner, the award ceremony, a star-studded concert and a silent auction. A host of celebrities, along with prominent music industry and entertainment executives are scheduled to attend or perform during the evening in honor of Ms. Franklin including Bill Cosby, Quincy Jones, Clive Davis, Berry Gordy, Andrea Bocelli, Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi ("The Blues Brothers"), Shirley Caesar, Patti Austin, Anthony Hamilton, Faith Hill, Corinne Bailey Rae, Fantasia, John Legend, Robin Thicke, Blair Underwood, Bebe & CeCe Winans, andMusiCares Foundation® President and President/CEO of The Recording Academy® Neil Portnow, among others. Ms. Franklin will also give a special performance.
"To be a fish in the pond is fabulous, however to be one in a million is so much more stunning," comments Franklin on being bestowed the MusiCares honor. "I salute MusiCares for all of its concerns and goodwill gestures and contributions to the music industry and the artists who have and have not been forgotten. I thank them for the very exclusive and esteemed honor of being 'Person of the Year.'"
In addition to a dinner and concert, the Person of the Year benefit begins with a silent auction that will feature art works, music and sports memorabilia, travel, hotel and spa packages and VIP concert experience packages. Bidding will be open to event guests as well as online and telephone bidders from around the world. Legendary jeweler Tiffany will be donating an Elsa Peretti platinum pave diamond open heart pendant to MusiCares that will be presented to Ms. Franklin during an exclusive, private reception at Tiffany's Beverly Hills flagship location to be worn by the music legend the night of her black-tie tribute and will be auctioned off live. Another highlighted item to be auctioned off includes a 2008 pink Cadillac CTS Sedan inspired by Aretha Franklin's "Freeway of Love,"customized with a special pink hue, hand-signed by Franklin herself and coupled with an Aretha Franklin CD box set which can be loaded into the luxurious sports car's 40 gigabyte hard drive.
Proceeds from this annual GRAMMY Week gala provide essential support for MusiCares®, which ensures that music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical and personal need.
Following the MusiCares gala and culminating GRAMMY Week activities, Franklin will perform at the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards airing live on Sunday, February 10, 2008 from the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on the CBS Television Network at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The MusiCares Person of the Year honoree will be featured in a special gospel segment. The seventeen-time GRAMMY® Award winner (second highest of any woman in history), GRAMMY Living Legend and GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, may add yet another GRAMMY to her list of awards as she is nominated this year in the Best Gospel Performance category for the song, "Never Gonna Break My Faith," a duet with Mary J. Blige (featuring The Harlem Boys Choir) from Bobby: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
While in Los Angeles, Franklin will also receive the prestigious NAACP Vanguard Award during a special presentation taking place during the 39th NAACP Image Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles on February 14, 2008 broadcast live at 8:00 ET/PT on FOX.
The NAACP Vanguard Award is presented to a person whose groundbreaking work increases our understanding and awareness of racial and social issues. To date, the award has been presented just three times before to Prince, Stanley Kramer and Steven Spielberg.
In addition to receiving the Vanguard Award, Franklin has received two Image Award nominations this year including Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Duo or Group for the duet, "Put You Up On Game" (featuring Fantasia), from her current CD, JEWELS IN THE CROWN: ALL STAR DUETS WITH THE QUEEN. As well, the UNCF television special "An Evening of Stars: Tribute to Aretha Franklin," has been nominated for Outstanding Variety (Series or Special).
"I was so thrilled and surprised to find that I had three nominations from this legendary awards show," Franklin proudly states. "I look back and remember and see just how far they have really come with one more special and major production annually, as I was there when they first began and had their first one or two shows living in Los Angeles. Of course, I will be with them on the evening of February 14 and I so look forward to being with the best. I salute the legendary 'Dean of Civil Rights' Mr. Julian Bond."
Los Angeles audiences will have the opportunity to experience Franklin's unparalled artistry live when she performs for two dates at the NOKIA Theatre L.A. Live on Thursday, February 14, 2008 and Friday, February 15, 2008, performance time 8:00 p.m.
With a musical legacy that spans more than four decades, the undisputed, reigning "Queen of Soul" has achieved global recognition on an unprecedented scale. The 2005 recipient of the Presidential Medal Of Freedom (America's highest honor) and Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee's distinctive vocal style has graced the music charts and touched the hearts of millions including the generations of singers she has influenced worldwide. Since she began her musical journey as a gospel-singing child prodigy, her rich legacy of recordings that include a catalog of more than 40 albums, many of which have achieved gold and platinum status, are truly a testament to the power, majesty and genius of this one-of-a-kind artist.
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