Look To The Stars News: Jay-Z

U2 Believe In Father Christmas For Africa

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:30:00 -0000

December 1st was World AIDS Day, and it also marked the launch of (RED)WIRE, an innovative new music service from (RED) that’s been set up to raise funds for HIV/AIDS charities in Africa.

Many artists have already lined up to premiere exclusive songs to help mark the event. Of course, Bono and his boys in U2 were one of the first to record an exclusive track for the new digital music magazine. Their cover of Greg Lake’s ‘I Believe in Father Christmas’ is only available on (RED)WIRE.

Those who purchase (RED)WIRE memberships- which are only $5 a month- will receive a weekly digital music offering including an exclusive song from a major artist, a song from an up-and-coming artist, and bonus content such as a digital short film or a reading from an artist or actor, as well information about the impact (RED) dollars have in Africa. Half of the $5 monthly fee goes directly to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.

Members who join before Wednesday, December 10, will become “Founding Members” of (RED)WIRE and receive the premier issue on December 10 as well as a special bonus song from Jay-Z.

Also, throughout the week, visit red.msn.com to see performances from U2, Jay-Z, Coldplay, John Legend, Dixie Chicks, The Killers & Elton John, The Police & Elvis Costello, Death Cab for Cutie and Sheryl Crow.

Bono's RED(Wire) To Launch Next Week

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

A new digital music service offered by Bono’s (RED) campaign is set to launch on Monday, December 1 – the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day.

The singer announced the new system in July, saying: “We are working on [a way that] will help change the way music is received, as well as change the lives of Africans who will die without the AIDS drug that (RED) can provide.”

RED (Wire) will be a subscription-based service that will deliver weekly magazine style installments. For $5/month, subscribers will receive an exclusive song from one of the world’s top artists, a song by an emerging artist, a piece of non-music content called a “Crackerjack surprise,” and stories of how (RED) funds are being used to combat the deadly disease.

MSN will host Monday’s launch, with new songs and videos from U2, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, Dixie Chicks, Jay-Z, John Legend and Sheryl Crow to be available at red.msn.com. Bob Dylan, REM, and The Police will also have videos available exclusively on RED (Wire), and there will also be a special Christmas duet between The Killers and Elton John.

“I like that it stands alone as a creative and fun thing to both receive and participate in,” said Michael Stipe. “And it would be that with or without the charity aspect.”

Bid2Beat AIDS For Special Christmas Gifts

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

One of the biggest celebrity charity auction events of the year is currently gearing up for its launch on December 1.

Bid2Beat AIDS is an annual event that will feature over 1000 items from top stars such as 50 Cent, Adam Sandler, Adrian Grenier, Aerosmith, Alec Baldwin, Amy Winehouse, Antonio Banderas, Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz, Common , Death Cab for Cutie, Denzel Washington, P. Diddy, Donny Osmond, Elton John, Fall Out Boy, Foo Fighters, Good Charlotte, Green Day, Hanson, Hilary Duff, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Blunt, James Earl Jones, James Morrison, Jamie Foxx, Jay-Z , Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jeremy Piven, Jessica Alba, John Legend, Johnny Depp, Kanye West, Kirsten Dunst, Ludacris , M.I.A., Madonna, Mariah Carey, Neil Patrick Harris, Ozzy Osbourne, Phil Collins, Raven Symone, Razorlight, Rihanna , Sacha Baron Cohen, Sharon Osbourne, Victoria Beckham, Whoopi Goldberg, Will Ferrell, Wyclef Jean, and many, many more. Also up for grabs will be VIP tickets to concerts and backstage visits with stars like Bernadette Peters, Jewel, Aimee Mann, Joan Rivers, and Michael Feinstein.

The annual auction will raise money for LIFEbeat, the music industry’s AIDS fundraising and service charity. The first three BID 2 BEAT AIDS auctions raised nearly $250,000, and this year’s looks set to be the biggest yet.

More info about the auction can be found at the Bid2Beat AIDS website, and the auction will go live on World AIDS Day here.

Look To The Stars will keep you posted as the items are announced.

Keep Your Feet Dry With Celebrity Designed Boots

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

As winter starts to wrap it’s icy fingers around the Northern Hemisphere, it’s time to start pulling your seasonal clothes out of the bottom of the drawers and closets. And if you want something a little different to go splashing through the puddles and snow this year, why not check out the celebrity boot sale currently on eBay.

Jay-Z, John Mayer, KT Tunstall, Amy Winehouse, Noel Gallagher, James Blunt, Katie Melua, The Arctic Monkeys, Kate Moss and a host of other stars decorated boots at this year’s Glastonbury Festival in the UK, and now the footwear will raise money for Water Aid, an organization that provides clean water, sanitation and hygiene education in Africa and other parts of the developing world.

“We are really excited about the Water Aid Celebrity Boot auction on eBay,“ said Naomi Irving, corporate development manager at Water Aid. “We’re so grateful to all the celebrities involved who have signed a pair of Hunter for Water Aid wellies [boots], including KT Tunstall, The Fratellis and Noel Gallagher.“

The auction runs until November 20, and can be accessed through eBay.

KT Tunstall is also currently involved in a campaign to help ensure homelessness is eradicated in Scotland by 2012.

The “Hometime” campaign has been launched by Shelter Scotland to ensure homeless targets are met and asks people to name which song reminds them of home. The list of songs will then be handed over to politicians later this month.

More information about the campaign can be found at the Shelter Scotland website.

Colin Powell Gets Funky For Africa

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Christina Aguilera and Seal may have headlined last night’s Africa Rising THISDAY Gala in London, but it was former US Secretary of State Colin Powell who stole the show with his funky Hip Hop dance.

The 71-year-old joined Nigerian rappers Olu Maintain on stage at the Royal Albert Hall for the show, which aimed to highlight the continent’s culture and talents.

“I stand before you as an African American,“ he said before joining the group for their item. “Many people have said to me you became Secretary of State of the USA, is it still necessary to say that you are an African American or that you are black, and I say yes, so that we can remind our children. It took a lot of people struggling to bring me to this point in history. I didn’t just drop out of the sky, people came from my continent in chains.”

The musical acts were followed by a fashion show featuring Sudanese model Alek Wek and Tyson Beckford and the latest trends from the House of Momo.

“Asia is expanding, it created jobs for people, and Eastern Europeans are doing the same, in my continent – Latin America, it’s happening also – it’s now Africa’s turn,“ continued Powell. “[With] all this wealth creation going on in the world, it won’t happen with just wishing, it will be done with hard work. Africa needs aid, but more than that it needs trade – it needs capital, but it has the same potential as Asia and Eastern European countries. There’s no reason a new Africa can’t be created here and now.”

The concert was the final leg in a four-show series that kicked off in Abuja in July before heading to Lagos and Washington DC, and featured performances from Youssou N’Dour, Jay-Z and John Legend. The shows also raised money for Africa Rising, an organization established in 2006 to reflect the culture and positive attributes of Africa’s social, political and economic progress.

“As Secretary of State, I pushed for support for the continent,“ said Powell. “Aid quadrupled during my tenure. We supported the fight against HIV/AIDS with over $15 billion. However, Africans must rise and take the responsibility for the development of the continent. They must end the wars. They must fight corruption.”

Jay-Z Honored By United Nations

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Rapper Jay-Z has been honored by the United Nations for his humanitarian work in Africa.

The performer and president of Def Jam Records was praised for his work when he attended the United Nations Global Leadership Awards Gala in New York on Wednesday. He recently returned from Africa, where he has invested heavily in programs to supply clean water.

“Many charities, you close your eyes and cross your fingers and hope that the money gets to the people who really deserve it,“ he told People Magazine. “But with this, I got to go to Africa, see the water pumps. I got to see the kids turn them on.”

The rapper first visited Africa in 2006, and recorded an MTV documentary of his visit called “The Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life.” Since then he has been paying for PlayPumps water systems to be installed in African villages where clean water was not available.

Robin Hood Gets Merry For Charity!

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:32:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

The stars came out for the Robin Hood Foundation’s annual fundraising gala last week, in an evening that shone, sparkled, and made the charity millions of dollars.

About 4,000 people gathered at the event held at the Javits Center in New York, including rapper Jay-Z, Russell Simmons, Tom Brokaw, Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein, and American Idol winner David Cook. The proceeds from the event, which included an auction, will go to more than 240 poverty-fighting programs in the city, including Abraham House in the South Bronx, which offers social services to relatives of prison inmates; the Children’s Defense Fund, which seeks better access to health care for poor children, and Broadway Housing Communities, which provides shelter for the homeless or the mentally ill.

The auction was co-hosted by Conan O’Brien, and the evening also featured performances by Shakira, Sheryl Crow, and John Legend.

“Every single penny raised tonight goes to help people claw their way out of poverty and build better lives for themselves and their families,” said David Saltzman, Robin Hood’s executive director. “Despite what’s going on in the economy, people who are in a position to help others step up, and during tough times they step up even more.”

Gates Talks Innovation, Philanthropy and Post-Retirement Plans

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:15:29 -0000

Written by Myrlia Purcell

Microsoft frontman Bill Gates spoke to students at Stanford earlier this month, praising young people for their innovation, and raising awareness for philanthropic work.

The talk began with a spoof video, during which Gates detailed his post-retirement plans. After retiring from his job at Microsoft later this year, Gates has a goal to break into the music industry. But, in the video, Jay-Z doesn’t have the heart to tell him that his chances are slim. And Bono tells him there is no chance of replacing The Edge as U2’s guitarist.

“Bill, we’ve, uh, we’ve talked about this before. We’re full up in the band, Bill. All positions are filled. I know… I know… I can’t just replace Edge because you got a high score on Guitar Hero.”

Bono continues, Office-style, “Bill’s always had a passion for music… and as long as it’s not my music, I’m fine with that.”

During the spoof, Gates also considers a career in film, and goes to director Steven Spielberg for help. Spielberg does what he can, though George Clooney isn’t so hot on the idea.

The video goes on to show Gates asking Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama if he can be their running mate, and finally calling Al Gore.

“No, it’s not an inconvenient time… Yeah, I get it. That was a good one,” says Gore.

After the video, Gates returned his Stanford talk to the topics at hand. “One of the best investments any company makes is in its research group and in the relationship its research group has with universities,” Gates said. “Students have really been at the heart of a lot of breakthroughs.” Microsoft announced that same day that it is making its software development tools available to high school and college students at no cost.

Gates then discussed his plans to work full-time with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, stating that his focal point is curing diseases, particularly life-threatening diseases in the Third World. He pointed out that there is a ratio of about 50 to 1 in the spending on finding a cure for baldness vs. finding a cure for malaria.

The foundation was famously pledged $37 billion by Warren Buffett in 2006, having already made grants totalling $10.5bn in the previous 12 years. Commenting on Buffett’s donation to the fund, Bill Gates said, “It is a big challenge to make sure this money gets used in the right way, but it is one we are thrilled about.” And soon, Gates will be dedicating his entire working day to doing just that.

Bid Now For Christmas Gifts

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:21:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

The countdown to Christmas has begun, and celebrities are doing their best to make holiday shopping easy this year. Several charity auctions have already kicked off to raise money for good causes, including one that may be eBay’s largest sale of celebrity items… ever!

The BID 2 BEAT AIDS online auction will open on December 1, World AIDS Day, and will feature over 1000 specially signed items, ranging from posters to iPods. The annual auction will raise money for LIFEbeat, the music industry’s AIDS fundraising and service charity, and in the past has raised up to $175,000.

The array of memorabilia up for sale this year is simply colossal, with perhaps the most interesting items being a series of “Lend a Hand to LIFEbeat” cards that feature the handprints of over 100 celebrities. Stars such as Britney Spears, Jack Black, and Kathy Griffin traced around the outlines of their hands and decorated their artworks for the auction, and the finished products will make a unique addition to any Christmas stocking.

Also included in the auction is a selection of signed musical instruments. Rapper 50 Cent has donated the tambourines he used during his performance at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, and Metallica and the Foo Fighters have both donated guitars. There are also over 200 official RIAA gold and platinum record awards up for sale, from artists such as Annie Lennox, Jon Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Green Day. Rare tour crew jackets from Guns N Roses, Cher, George Michael, and Prince are also available.

There are a stack of autographed CDs and DVDs on offer in the auction, from Mariah Carey, Elton John, Rihanna, Fall Out Boy, Maroon 5, Amy Winehouse, and Val Kilmer, as well as books signed by Madonna, Bill Clinton, Rosie O’Donnell, Martha Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Ethan Hawke. Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Elijah Wood, and Usher have all signed posters for the auction.

For those people after something a little different, the auction also includes an iPod designed by Yoko Ono, a box of cereal signed by Will Ferrell, Borat’s hat signed by Sacha Baron Cohen, and a Spiderman action figure autographed by Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

And if nothing mentioned so far whets your appetite, there are also signed items from Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Nelly, Joan Collins, John Travolta, Kanye West, The Cure, Jay-Z, Cameron Diaz, Victoria Beckham, Robin Williams, Hilary Duff, Jason Alexander, Jack Nicholson, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adam Sandler, John Legend, Jessica Simpson, Whoopi Goldberg, Aerosmith, Denzel Washington, Good Charlotte, James Blunt, Jeremy Piven, Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Norah Jones, Razorlight, Wyclef Jean, and many more… far too many to list here.

More information and a full list of items can be found at www.bid2beataids.com.

As if this wasn’t enough choice for Christmas shoppers, there are also several other auctions and events on the go at the moment. The biggest of these is the 10th Annual Collaborating For A Cure Benefit Dinner and Auction, a massive black tie gala to be held on November 29. It also happens to be one of the highest grossing charity events held every year in New York, and last year raised over $4 million for the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization that has provided over $55 million in grants to cancer research, and has been instrumental in the development of new cancer drugs.

The gala dinner and live auction will be held at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue, New York City, and over 1200 guests are expected to attend. The host for the evening is Chevy Chase, and attendees will be treated to a very special performance by Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh, members of 70’s rock group, the Eagles.

Selected items up for auction on the night as well as online include dinner with Chevy Chase, the chance to play tennis with Andre Agassi, and a meet and greet with Aerosmith.

More information can be found at www.charitybuzz.com.

Also on the Charitybuzz website is an auction to raise funding for Stand Up For A Cure, an organization dedicated to lung cancer research and awareness.

The auction runs from November 28 until December 12, and features unique items such as the chance to have Andrea Bocelli perform in your own home, the opportunity to have Patti LaBelle host your cocktail party, and VIP tickets to see Céline Dion at Madison Square Gardens.

And if you still can’t find a suitable gift, have a look at the Have A Heart Auction on Charitybuzz. All proceeds from the auction, which features the chance to meet Avril Lavigne, a copy of “An Inconvenient Truth” signed by Al Gore, and a “Godfather II” DVD signed by Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro, will benefit HEART, an organization that aims to foster compassion and respect for all living beings.

But you have to be in quick, as the auction ends on November 29.

Bono Awarded For AIDS Work

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:32:08 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Bono has received an award at an AIDS charity event in New York.

The U2 frontman was honored for his humanitarian work at The Black Ball, a ceremony held at the Hammerstein Ballroom on October 25 to raise money for the Keep A Child Alive foundation, a non-profit organization that provides treatment to AIDS victims in Africa.

The sparkling evening of cocktails, dinner, and rare musical performances was organized and co-hosted by Alicia Keys, a Global Ambassador for the foundation, who described Bono as “an amazing man [who] works tirelessly at really having a cause and fighting for it. He is an inspiration and single-handedly made it cool to have something to speak about.”

“Rock stars always want to do two things,” said Bono, who was honored to accept the award but insisted he would rather be giving out the accolades. “They want to have fun and change the world. If you can do both at the same time, you’re OK.”

The event, which featured performances by Gwen Stefani and Sheryl Crow, as well as by Bono and Keys, attracted a host of celebrities who are both known for their support of the foundation and who wanted to show their respect for Bono’s work. David Bowie, Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Petra Nemcova, and members of Green Day were all spotted during the evening.

“This is an awesome opportunity to step up out of compassion and try to do the smallest of things,” said Crow, a few minutes before performing a duet with Keys. “Just to play some music and raise some money. I’m really proud of Alicia for doing it, and obviously I’m a huge fan of Bono and all the work he’s done.”

“I love Bono,” added Keys, who teamed up with the Irish singer in 2005 to record a version of Peter Gabriel’s “Don’t Give Up” for Keep A Child Alive. “I really respect what he has done for Africa, and how he has used his fame to do good in the world. I hope I can do half as much in my life. Keep A Child Alive is my passion and heartfelt mission. I believe AIDS is the most important issue we face, because how we treat the poor is a reflection of who we are as people. I urge everyone to recognize the extreme disaster Africa is facing.”

Africa currently has 12 million AIDS orphans, and less than 5% of the population has access to life-saving anti-retroviral treatment. It is estimated that there are 40 million people infected with the disease, 3 million of them children, with 700,000 more children becoming infected every year. Through its fundraising, Keep A Child Alive has funded several AIDS clinics in Africa, saving lives in Kenya, Durban, Johannesburg, Kigali, Rwanda, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Uganda. They also provide funds for the Agape Orphanage and the Go Go Grannies in South Africa. Keep A Child Alive is a partner of the ONE Campaign, which aims to help Americans to work against the worldwide emergency of AIDS and extreme poverty.

“I am a Global Ambassador for Keep A Child Alive,” said Iman, who co-hosted the Black Ball with Keys. “So it is something I have been doing for quite a while. I am from Africa, and there are a lot of orphan children in Africa whose parents have died from AIDS, and also there are a lot of kids infected with HIV. So we want to provide the drugs that are available in the West, and to make them affordable for poor countries as well, especially the continent of Africa.”

More information on Keep A Child Alive, whose Global Ambassadors also include Liv Tyler and Jessica Alba, can be found at www.keepachildalive.org.

Vanity Fair Charity Issue Edited By Bono

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:35:00 -0000

Written by Saskia Akyil

Bono is putting his philanthropic energy into Vanity Fair’s July 2007 special issue about Africa. The issue has 20 different cover photos of high-profile individuals, all taken by renowned photographer Annie Liebowitz.

The magazine includes information about the issues and charities supported by actors, athletes, models, politicians, musicians, activists, and billionaire philanthropists, all of whom are using their celebrity status and the publicity they receive to bring attention to the complex set of problems faced by the inhabitants of Africa.

Africa is a continent with great need, and has been given a disproportionately low amount of attention and aid from wealthy nations. It is the first Vanity Fair issue to have a guest editor, and Bono’s highly publicized commitment to aiding Africa makes him an obvious choice for editor of this issue. In recent years, celebrities have used their status to bring a great deal of attention to Africa.

The covers of the Africa issue include portraits of: Bono, Barack Obama, Queen Rania, George Bush, Condaleeza Rice, Muhammad Ali, Desmond Tutu, Brad Pitt, Djimon Hounsou, Madonna, Maya Angelou, Chris Rock, Warren Buffett, Melinda & Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Iman, and Don Cheadle.

The issue features numerous in-depth articles about a variety of subjects concerning Africa, including: Kenya; Desmond Tutu and the fight for equality in South Africa and worldwide; Tunisia’s success and the threat of Islamic extremism; the role of China in fueling some of the conflict in Africa; Jeffrey Sachs dream of how to eradicate extreme poverty; the consumer-action strategy of (Product) Red to make miracle AIDS treatment drugs accessible to the millions who need them; the role of the Congo’s blacklisted airline pilots in keeping trade flowing; Bill Clinton’s stories of Nelson Mandela African music; Africans defying the status quo of poverty, disease, and corruption; suggestions for platform topics for the US 2008 presidential election; the genetic data that links all people on Earth to Africa; identifying the current literary talents of Africa; Princess Diana’s post-divorce charity work, in particular her mission to ban land mines; and the Africa connection of the high-profile individuals on Vanity Fair’s July 2007 issue covers.

The Vanity Fair website offers links and information about Africa, charities that benefit the continent, and full-text versions of some of the articles.

Jay-Z To Raise Awareness Of Global Water Crisis

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 20:02:00 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

Jay-Z, rapper and president of Def Jam Records, announced on Wednesday that he will work with the United Nations and MTV to get children involved in the fight against the worldwide water crisis. He cited statistics that 1.1 billion people live without clean drinking water and 2.6 billion lack proper sanitation.

The singer said that when he visited Africa on tour he was shocked at how many of the world’s poor had no access to sanitary water services.

“As I started looking around and looking at ways that I could become helpful, it started at the first thing—water, something as simple as water,” he said at a news conference at U.N. headquarters with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

MTV film crews will follow the rapper on his worldwide tour, which begins Sept. 9. “The Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life” will record meetings with people around the world who lack water.

Jay-Z said he wants to build 1,000 PlayPumps in Africa by the time the tour is over. He also hopes that children who learn about the crisis will tell their parents, who might be able to do something about it.

Look To The Stars News: Jay-Z

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