Tickets on Sale for Star Studded Icons of Music II Auction Benefiting Music Rising, Taking Place Saturday, May 31st at Hard Rock Cafe New York in Times Square

Tickets on Sale for Star Studded Icons of Music II Auction Benefiting Music Rising, Taking Place Saturday, May 31st at Hard Rock Cafe New York in Times Square

THE POLICE'S GUITAR ADDED TO UNPRECEDENTED COLLECTION OF MUSIC MEMORABILIA; PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS SCHEDULED FOR LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK

Event Hosted by U2's the Edge with a Special Performance by Aaron Neville

NEW YORK, May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Tickets are currently on sale to the public for the star-studded Icons of Music II Auction, hosted by Julien's Auctions (http://www.juliensauctions.com/) and U2's the Edge with a special performance by Aaron Neville. The event, taking place at Hard Rock Cafe New York in Times Square on Saturday, May 31st, will benefit Music Rising (http://www.musicrising.org/), a campaign co-founded by the Edge, legendary producer Bob Ezrin and Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz in 2005 to aid musicians of the Gulf Coast Region in regaining their livelihood after the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Tickets to the event will provide access to an unprecedented music memorabilia auction including a recently added guitar signed by The Police. With their final show scheduled for New York City later this year, The Police have donated an electric guitar signed by all three band members (est. $2,000/4,000) to be included in the Icons of Music II Auction.

Joining the Edge, Neville, Ezrin and Juszkiewicz will be an A-list crowd encompassing all aspects of the entertainment world. This stellar list includes legendary guitarist and inventor Les Paul, famed photographer May Pang, fashion models Petra Nemcova and Christy Turlington, designer Donna Karan and Broadway's James Snyder, star of the musical production of Cry Baby. The evening will 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, with his family, 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 (http://www.ticketmaster.com/) or Hard Rock Cafe New York (http://www.hardrock.com/) 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 detailing all lots in the sale in full color.

The newest addition, The Police guitar, joins an unprecedented collection of music memorabilia being auctioned that includes items from Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Miles Davis, Slash, the Beatles and Johnny Cash, among others. The auction will also include several personal donations from U2's the Edge, along with an assortment of property donated by his fellow band members. Interested parties can log on to http://www.juliensauctions.com/ to view the 400 lots which will go up for bid on that day and also register to bid.

Highlights from the Icons of Music II auction have toured the world, already making stops at The Museo De La Moda in Santiago, Chile and The Museum of Style Icons at Newbridge Silverware in Conty Kildare, Ireland. The impressive exhibit will next make its way to the Celebrity Vault in Beverly Hills before its final stop at Hard Rock Cafe New York in Times Square. Public exhibition at the Celebrity Vault in Beverly Hills will be open 11 AM to 7 PM daily from Thursday, May 22nd - Saturday, May 24th and the display at Hard Rock Cafe New York will run 11 AM to 10 PM daily from Monday, May 26th - Friday, May 30th.

About Music Rising:

Music Rising is a campaign launched in 2005 to replace musical instruments lost or destroyed by hurricanes in the Gulf Region. It has since launched a second phase dedicated to the aid of schools and churches. Music Rising was formed by U2's the Edge, legendary producer Bob Ezrin, and Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz. Partners of the campaign represent the most diverse partnership in the entertainment industry and include MusiCares, Guitar Center, Musician's Friend, Live Nation, Kennedy/Marshall, Ticketmaster, Hard Rock International, VH-1, MTV, Real Networks, ABC News Now, The NFL, Rolling Stone, Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, Julien's Auctions, ACT and the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. Music Rising is the recipient of the prestigious 2005 HALO Award for Cause Marketing and the 2006 Billboard Humanitarian Award, the 2007 PRISM Award and has been recognized around the world by various media organizations. Music Rising is administered by the Gibson Foundation. For more information go to http://www.musicrising.org/ and http://www.gibsonfoundation.org/.

PRESS CONTACTS:

Caroline Galloway Maureen O'Connor
Music Rising/Gibson Guitar Rogers & Cowan
440-338-3469/615-423-4904 310-854-8116
Caroline.galloway@gibson.commoconnor@rogersandcowan.com

Meredith Miesieski Lori Earl
Coyne PR CodeBlue Media
973-316-1665/732-619-4355 818-704-1200
mmiesieski@coynepr.comcodebluemedia@gmail.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Gibson Guitar

CONTACT: Caroline Galloway of Music Rising-Gibson Guitar,
+1-440-338-3469, or +1-615-423-4904, Caroline.galloway@gibson.com; or Meredith
Miesieski of Coyne PR, +1-973-316-1665, or +1-732-619-4355,
mmiesieski@coynepr.com, or Maureen O'Connor of Rogers & Cowan,
+1-310-854-8116, moconnor@rogersandcowan.com, or Lori Earl of CodeBlue Media,
+1-818-704-1200, codebluemedia@gmail.com, all for Gibson Guitar

Web site:

http://www.musicrising.org/
http://www.juliensauctions.com/
http://www.gibsonfoundation.org/
http://www.hardrock.com/

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