Look To The Stars News: Music Rising

Bill Clinton’s iPod Nets Over $2,200 For Charity

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:00:00 -0000

An 8GB red iPod Nano signed by former President Bill Clinton has been auctioned off for $2,246. Proceeds benefit Music Rising, and will help replace instruments lost by musicians, schools, and churches as a result of the hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast Region in 2005.

U2’s The Edge created Music Rising with the support of many industry insiders in order to “help rebuild the musical heart and culture of the Gulf Region by replacing the musical instruments and gear that were lost in the Inundation in 2005.” The campaign has raised money through the sale of memorabilia and concert events. To date, Music Rising has assisted over 2,700 musicians and almost 50,000 students and parishioners in continuing pursuing their musical passions.

The organization’s latest charity effort partners Music Rising with celebrities and other public figures to auction autographed iPods; the players are filled with music selected by the participant and sold through the website Tonic.com. Clinton, himself a saxophonist, created a playlist featuring eleven songs including Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Carly Simon’s “I Get Along Without You Very Well,” Joan Baez’s “Winds of the Old Days,” and Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”

Bidding for iPods signed by Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore, and Scarlett Johansson is set to begin Monday, March 16. Place your bid online or visit the official Music Rising website to find out about the most recent promotions and events benefitting Gulf Coast musicians.

Celebrities Sign iPods For Charity Auction

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:30:00 -0000

Tonic.com has announced the launch of a new charity auction series. Leading celebrities from the worlds of music, film, television, and fashion have contributed an autographed iPod loaded with their personal playlist to be auctioned off, with all proceeds benefiting Music Rising, a campaign founded in 2005 to replace lost or destroyed instruments of musicians in the Gulf Coast Region after the hurricane disasters.

Over seventy celebrities will participate in the auction series including U2’s The Edge, former President Bill Clinton, Madonna, Beyoncé Knowles, Cher, Donna Karan, Warren Buffett, Christy Turlington, Britney Spears, Michael Stipe, Gwen Stefani, Mariah Carey, Stevie Nicks, Michael Buble, Ben Affleck, Ellen DeGeneres, Estelle, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Scarlett Johansson, Peter Wentz, Randy Jackson, will.i.am, Kevin Bacon, Gisele Bundchen, Marc Jacobs, Ed Burns, Samantha Ronson, Nick Lachey, Petra Nemcova, Mandy Moore and many others.

Each celebrity was given a new iPod which they each autographed and Tonic pre-loaded with a playlist of ten to twenty of the celebrities’ favorite songs. Beginning February 12 between one and five separate iPod auctions will simultaneously launch every week on eBay; playlists will be revealed to the public on both tonic.com and eBay when auctions are launched.

“Music Rising is honored to be the charitable beneficiary of Tonic’s innovative iPod auction series,” said Bob Ezrin, Co-founder of Music Rising. “My visits to New Orleans gave me a firsthand look at the devastation which tragically destroyed the lives of thousands. Every person who wins an iPod bid will directly be helping ensure that one of the Gulf Coast’s greatest assets, its music, will rise again.”

“Everyone who has ever wondered what songs their favorite celebrities listen to in their home or on the road won’t have to wonder much longer,” said Pankaj Shah, CEO and Founder of Tonic. “We’ve compiled pre-loaded, autographed iPods from countless iconic celebrities to share with the public. By bidding on an autographed iPod, you’ll be helping to aid in the continued rebirth of the Gulf Coast Region. The Celebrity iPod Auction Series is Tonic’s first major campaign of 2009 to offer consumers an opportunity to create social good and we’re thrilled to rally people behind a great cause.”

Icons Of Music Rock On For Charity

Mon, 26 May 2008 11:12:57 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

The second annual Music Rising Icons Of Music auction will be held on 31 May at NYC’s Hard Rock Café, and is to broadcast live by the Auction Network.

Music Rising is a charity founded by U2’s The Edge, producer Bob Ezrin, and Gibson Guitars CEO Henry Juszkiewicz to help replace musical instruments that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The auction will feature over 400 exciting lots, including one of The Edge’s famous 1976 Gibson Explorers (with an estimated price of $80,000), a Fender Stratocaster previously owned by David Gilmour, a snare drum signed by John Lennon, and Eric Clapton’s Roland G-505 guitar used on his Behind The Sun album and on tour with Roger Waters.

The evening will also feature a very special performance from four-time Grammy Award winner Aaron Neville, who has helped bring major attention to some of the charity work being done in New Orleans today. Neville lost everything in the storms of Katrina and brings a unique personal experience to Music Rising, giving guests a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness his great musicianship when he brings the spirit of New Orleans to the auction.

A limited number of tickets for the event are currently available for $250.00 each through either Ticketmaster or Hard Rock Cafe New York, with all proceeds going directly to Music Rising. Tickets include entry into the evening portion of the event, special catered services, and a complimentary Icons of Music II collectible auction catalog.

Highlights from the Icons of Music II auction have already toured the world, and have been seen at The Museo De La Moda in Santiago, Chile, The Museum of Style Icons in Ireland, and the Celebrity Vault in Beverly Hills. The auction lots will be on display at the Hard Rock Cafe New York from 11am to 10pm daily from Monday, May 26th – Friday, May 30th.

Other items include a hat once owned by Elvis Presley, Madonna’s high school yearbook, Elton John’s toaster, and Jimi Hendrix’s personalized guitar straps. The auction can be accessed at the Auction Network website.

Music Memorabilia Charity Auction Raises $2.4 Million

Tue, 01 May 2007 17:48:03 -0000

Written by Steve Purcell

An auction of music memorabilia from celebrities including Jimi Hendrix, The Edge, Bono and Paul McCartney has raised $2.4 million, much of which will go to a charity for musicians.

Music Rising, whose founders include U2 guitarist The Edge, replaces musical equipment lost or destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Edge donated his favourite guitar, a 1975 Gibson Les Paul that has been played on every U2 tour to date. Like many of the items sold, the guitar’s forecast sale price of $60,000 to $80,000 was greatly exceeded by the eventual winning bid of $288,000.

Further guitars owned by Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney were sold for $480,000, $192,000 and $81,600 respectively, while a pair of sunglasses belonging to Bono fetched $24,000.

Bidding at the auction on 21st April lasted three hours longer than planned, and all 204 lots were sold. 100% of the proceeds from many items will go directly to Music Rising, while other items were sold only partly to benefit the charity.

Green Day and U2 single to benefit Music Rising

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 15:13:32 -0000

Written by Hannah Coone

Two of the biggest bands in history are to release a joint single to benefit the rebuilding of New Orleans. Green Day and U2 got together for dinner in February to try and think of a project suitable for this cause. Seven months later, the bands met again in London at the studios in Abbey Road made famous by The Beatles, and tried a cover of ‘The Saints Are Coming’, originally recorded by The Skids in 1978.

On September 25th, Green Day and U2 gave the song its first live show at the reopening of the Louisiana Superdome, to support the New Orleans Saints’ first home game in the NFL since the Katrina disaster.

The Saints themselves had said they would like to play U2’s hit song ‘Beautiful Day’ before each match. So, U2 themselves performed the song to end the night’s pre-game show. “It’s a good song,” the Edge said. “I hope … for New Orleans it’s like the past is laid to rest and from now on, OK, we have a lot of problems to get over but now the party starts so ‘Beautiful Day’ is probably a fitting song.”

Before the night’s big game, Green Day took the stage and performed their hit single ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’. Armstrong chose this song because “I think the sort of thing that it resonates is hope, you know.”

U2’s The Edge has already been making headlines with his charity Music Rising, a charity that replaces instruments lost by professional musicians in the disaster. This is something that Green Day front-man Billie Joe Armstrong is completely behind; “I think every musician who earns money doing what they do owes a little bit of a debt to New Orleans.”

“One year later, people continue to be devastated by Katrina’s effects,” Billie Joe Armstrong said in a news release. “We hope that by collaborating with U2, we’ll remind the public that people of the Gulf Coast are still suffering and still need help to rebuild their lives.”

The song will be released for digital download on October 30th and as a CD single on November 6th.

The Edge's Music Rising

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:32:20 -0000

Written by Hannah Coone

U2 guitarist The Edge and producer Bob Ezrin, who has worked with the likes of Pink Floyd and The Darkness, have teamed up to help musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Together with Gibson Guitars, the Guitar Center and charity MusiCares, the pair formed Music Rising in November 2005. The new charity’s primary goal is to replace every instrument lost to professional musicians in the Gulf Coast.

“New Orleans is a crucible for great music,” says the Edge. “The idea that it would be just a place of history for music is awful to me. Coming from Dublin in the Seventies, when music was something you had to search out, I’d never dreamt that somewhere like New Orleans could exist. Music was coming out of the walls. It seemed not just a form of escapism, but like it was weaved into everybody’s life.”

Bob Ezrin describes how he and The Edge were deeply affected by the disaster in New Orleans; “We both concluded instantly that the human disaster was indescribable, but what was being wiped out at the same time was the culture of the entire region.”

Gibson Guitars CEO Henry Juszkiewicz and Guitar Center CEO Marty Albertson contacted Ezrin and The Edge. They created a custom limited edition Gibson Les Paul guitar to raise money for flood victims. The founders pledged a minimum of $1 million for the sale of the guitar and to cover the design and manufacturing costs.

The original guitars sold out quickly at auction and Gibson are now planning a larger edition of a more affordable Music Rising Epiphone Casino to mark the charity’s one year anniversary. The original Casino model was used by John Lennon and George Harrison in The Beatles’ early years, and subsequently by Noel Gallagher of Oasis, and The Edge himself.

To date, Music Rising has provided more than 2,100 replacement instruments to professional musicians, donating over $2.1 million and winning coveted charity awards. The charity plans to extend its instrument replacement program to include local churches, marching bands and schools.

The Edge says, “Something should be done and not just because New Orleans deserves it, but because the world needs New Orleans.”

Look To The Stars News: Music Rising

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