The 11th annual MusiCares MAP Fund® benefit concert will honor The Who's GRAMMY®-winning singer/songwriter Pete Townshend, and The Who's longtime manager, music and film producer Bill Curbishley at the Best Buy Theater in New York on May 28. Townshend will be honored with the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award for his dedication and support of the MusiCares MAP Fund. He is being recognized for his commitment to helping other addicts with the addiction recovery process. Curbishley will be the recipient of MusiCares®' From the Heart Award for his unconditional friendship and dedication to the mission and goals of the organization. All proceeds from the benefit, which is sponsored in part by RBC Capital Markets, will benefit the MusiCares MAP Fund, which provides members of the music community access to addiction recovery treatment regardless of their financial situation.
Tickets will go on sale in February and additional performers will be announced shortly.
"This year, the MAP Fund is traveling to New York City to broaden the visibility of MusiCares' services on the East Coast," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy® and MusiCares. "Throughout the year, MusiCares offers comprehensive addiction recovery programs to people in need, and the opportunity to showcase the annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit in that great music city should underscore that our resources are available to members of the music community nationwide. It is a genuine privilege to honor Pete and Bill in our 11th anniversary year for their longtime dedication to our mission."
Born into a musical family in London at the end of World War II, Townshend is known principally as the lead guitarist and composer for The Who, as well as for his own solo career. His career with
The Who spans 50 years, during which time Townshend was the driving force behind one of the most powerful, inventive and articulate bodies of work in rock and roll. From early classic three-minute singles, such as "My Generation" and "Substitute," to complete song cycles in the shape of Tommy,
Lifehouse and Quadrophenia, Townshend has always been at the forefront of his profession.
He has written more than 100 songs for The Who's 11 studio albums, including the rock operas Tommy, Quadrophenia, and the well-regarded rock radio staple Who's Next, plus dozens more that appeared as non-album singles and bonus tracks. Though known mainly as a guitarist, Townshend is an accomplished singer and keyboard player, and has played many other instruments (such as banjo, accordion, synthesizer, piano, bass, and drums) on his solo albums and on certain Who albums. He has also written newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books and scripts. Townshend plans to tour the United States again in 2015 with
The Who to celebrate the legendary group's 50th anniversary.
A music and film producer, Curbishley started his career in the music business at Track Records in 1969, a company that recorded and managed bands and artists ranging from Marc Bolan, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Thunderclap Newman, and The Who. When Track Records dissolved in 1974, Curbishley set up his own company, Trinifold Management, which initially only handled The Who. Curbishley's involvement with the group eventually led to him producing the 1979 movie Quadrophenia, inspired by the album of the same name and following up with 1980's McVicar.
Curbishley expanded Trinifold and began to manage or co-manage other rock icons such as Judas Priest, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Golden Earring, Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant, and subsequently guitarist Jimmy Page - giving birth to a hugely successful period of recording and touring for Page and Plant. Curbishley organized a Led Zeppelin concert in 2006, when the band's early mentor and founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, passed away. The album from that show,
Celebration Day, received a GRAMMY® for Best Rock Album at the 56th GRAMMY Awards® in 2014. In 2014 Curbishley also released another movie, The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman - an evocative story by Eric Lomax about his capture and torture by the Japanese on the Burma-Siam railway in the second World War.
The MusiCares
Foundation offers programs and services to members of the music community including emergency financial assistance for basic living expenses such as rent, utilities and car payments; medical expenses including doctor, dentist and hospital bills; psychotherapy; and treatment for HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, hepatitis C, and other critical illnesses. MusiCares offers nationwide educational workshops covering a variety of subjects, including financial, legal, medical, and substance abuse issues, and programs in collaboration with healthcare professionals that provide services such as flu shots, hearing tests, and medical/dental screenings. The MusiCares MAP Fund allows access to addiction recovery treatment and sober living resources for members of the music community. Staffed by qualified chemical dependency and intervention specialists, MusiCares Safe Harbor Rooms, supported by the Bohemian Foundation, offer a support network to those in recovery while they are participating in the production of televised music shows and other major music events.
MusiCares holds weekly addiction support groups for people to discuss how to best cope with the issues surrounding the recovery process. The MusiCares Sober Touring Network is a database of individuals across the United States who can take music people to recovery support meetings while on the road.
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.org. For breaking news and exclusive content, please like "MusiCares" on
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