WHAT:
Legendary singer, songwriter and producer Lionel Richie will receive the 21st annual George and Ira Gershwin Award for lifetime musical achievement at Spring Sing, UCLA's oldest and greatest musical tradition and student competition. Past recipients of the award include Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, James Taylor, Ella Fitzgerald and Natalie Cole.
Legendary singer, songwriter and producer Lionel Richie will receive the 21st annual George and Ira Gershwin Award for lifetime musical achievement at Spring Sing, UCLA's oldest and greatest musical tradition and student competition. Past recipients of the award include Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, James Taylor, Ella Fitzgerald and Natalie Cole.
Spring Sing features some of the best musical and comedic talent UCLA has to offer, with performers competing before a panel of celebrity judges. When they were UCLA students, musicians such as Sara Bareilles and members of Maroon 5 had their first opportunity to perform in front of thousands at the event.
WHO:
WHO:
- Lionel Richie
- UCLA student performers
- Celebrity judges, including Christopher Gorham ("Ugly Betty"), Ryan Carnes ("Desperate Housewives"), Amber Stevens ("Greek"), Bill Dorfman ("Extreme Makeover"), Tatyana Ali ("The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air") and Todd White, a member of the lead animation team for "SpongeBob SquarePants"
- More than 5,000 UCLA fans
WHEN:
8 p.m. on Friday, May 2
WHERE:
Los Angeles Tennis Center, 420 Charles E. Young Dr. West, UCLA campus
BACKGROUND:
Spring Sing, sponsored by the UCLA Student Alumni Association, originated in the 1940s with fraternity quartets trying to outdo each other serenading the houses on Sorority Row. As the competition grew, it moved to UCLA's Royce Hall and eventually to the Hollywood Bowl, drawing crowds of more than 15,000 in the '50s and '60s and featuring Ronald Reagan as master of ceremonies. The annual event is now recognized as UCLA's finest showcase of student musical talent, playing to sold-out audiences of more than 5,000 people each year.
In 1988, the Student Alumni Association established the annual George and Ira Gershwin Award for lifetime musical achievement in honor of the Gershwins' contribution to American music and in appreciation of their gift to UCLA of the song "Strike Up the Band for UCLA," an adaptation of the title tune of one of their Broadway musicals.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Elizabeth Kivowitz, UCLA Office of Media Relations, 310-206-1458
