Joye Griffin Toni Thompson UNCF Toni Thompson PR 703-205-3480 Office (310) 702-0926 703-483-5398 Mobile [email protected] [email protected] Press Release TOP TALENT COMES OUT FOR UNCF TRIBUTE TO PATTI LABELLE ANITA BAKER, FANTASIA, JENNIFER HUDSON AND JOSS STONE AMONG THOSE TO PERFORM AN EVENING OF STARS ® Presented by Target -Tickets Go on Sale on August 3, 2008 FAIRFAX, Va. (August 4, 2008) – Grammy-winning ladies of soul Anita Baker and Joss Stone, Oscar winning Jennifer Hudson and American Idol-winner Fantasia are among those slated to perform at UNCF’s 30 th Anniversary An Evening of Stars ® Tribute to Patti LaBelle Presented by Target . This year’s event promises to be a night to remember when UNCF salutes Patti LaBelle before a live audience on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. Tickets to An Evening of Stars ® Tribute to Patti LaBelle Presented by Target will be available for purchase beginning Sunday, August 3, 2008 at the Kodak Theatre box office, the Ticketmaster web site and at all Los Angeles area Ticketmaster locations. Ticket prices start at $28. Also scheduled to sing Patti LaBelle’s praises will be the incomparable Dionne Warwick, the soulful Brian McKnight, the multi talented comic and singer Wayne Brady and gospel legend Yolanda Adams. Additional performers and an all-star cast of presenters, to be announced later, will join UNCF’s salute to the soulful songbird during a two-hour tribute that will air in January 2009. Patti LaBelle, who has been an active supporter of UNCF through her appearances on past AEOS ® tributes and participation in numerous UNCF fundraising events, will be on hand to accept UNCF’s Award of Excellence, given in recognition of her distinguished career as an artist and for her longstanding support of UNCF. She joins the esteemed company of prior award honorees Lou Rawls, Quincy Jones, Steve Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Smokey Robinson This year’s show is made possible by Target, the Presenting Sponsor of AEOS ®, and by national corporate sponsors McDonald’s, Toyota, and AT&T. American Airlines is the official airline of An Evening of Stars ® and Wachovia is the VIP Hospitality sponsor. Returning for his twelfth year as executive producer and director of An Evening of Stars ® is five- time Emmy ® winner Louis J. Horvitz, Returning for his twelfth year as executive producer and (More) director of An Evening of Stars ® is five-time Emmy ® winner Louis J. Horvitz. Horvitz and his team received the prestigious NAACP Image Award for a Tribute to Stevie Wonder benefiting the UNCF earlier in 2007. Later in the month Horvitz will direct the “60 th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards” for the 14 th year. In February Horvitz directed "The 80th Annual Academy Awards," marking his 12th year at the helm of the Oscars. He also garnered his 13 th Emmy nomination for the direction of the program. Horvitz completed his 16th stint directing both "The Kennedy Center Honors" and "The American Film Institute Life Achievement Award." In a career that has spanned more than three decades, Horvitz has helmed many high-profile programs, including "The American Music Awards," "Fashion Rocks," "The MTV-Video Music Awards," "VH-1 Hip Hop Honors," "VH-1 Divas," "VH-1 Concert for New York City" benefiting survivors of 9/11, "U2 Half-Time at the Superbowl XXXVI," "Paul Simon in Central Park," "The Rolling Stones Steel Wheels Tour," "Live Aid" and the Paramount series phenomenon "80's Solid Gold." Horvitz is a native of Los Angeles, California and earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts at the University of California at Los Angeles. For more information on AEOS, visit www.uncf.org/aeos. About An Evening of Stars ® An Evening of Stars ® (AEOS), formerly the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars ®, first aired in 1979, and since that time has become one of the longest running and most successful televised events in U.S. history. Lou Rawls, a spokesperson for UNCF and champion for AEOS for more than 25 years, is credited with helping raise more than $200 million to help UNCF scholarship recipients and member institutions and their students pay the cost of higher education. In recent years, AEOS has featured a Who’s Who of recognizable talent, including Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Chaka Khan, Ne-Yo, Nancy Wilson, Beyonce, Anita Baker, Jill Scott, Whoopi Goldberg, Fantasia, Joss Stone, Jennifer Hudson, Michael Bolton, Natalie Cole, Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Hall and Oates, Ziggy Marley, Maroon 5, and scores of others. An Evening of Stars ® received an Image Award for its 2006 tribute to Stevie Wonder. Learn more about AEOS at www.uncf.org/aeos . About UNCF UNCF—the United Negro College Fund—is the nation’s oldest and most successful minority education assistance organization. Its mission is to increase minority degree attainment by providing financial support to its 39 member institutions, reducing financial barriers to college and serving as a national advocate for minority education. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding 18 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at over 900 colleges and universities across the country. UNCF’s recently redesigned logo and brand identity feature UNCF’s torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized motto, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” ® Learn more at www.UNCF.org . —UNCF— .