The Rhythm & Blues Foundation Announces Pioneer Awards Co-Hosts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) August 22, 2008 -- Chaka Khan, Bill Withers, Kool & the Gang, Donny Hathaway and More to be Honored in Star-Studded Gala

Philadelphia, PA Music legends Dionne Warwick, Bonnie Raitt and Jerry Butler will co-host the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s star-studded 20th Anniversary Pioneer Awards gala. The event, to be held at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia on September 9, 2008, will pay homage to Chaka Khan with the Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, Bill Withers, Teena Marie, and singer-songwriter Sugar Pie DeSanto will receive the Foundation’s Individual Artist Award; The Whispers and Kool & the Gang will receive the Foundation’s Group Artists Award; Motown session players the Funk Brothers will receive the Foundation’s Sidemen Award; Soul legend Donny Hathaway will posthumously receive a Legacy Award in recognition of his influential output in the 1970s; and Al Bell, former president of two renowned record labels, Stax Records and Motown Records, will be given the Ahmet Ertegun Leadership Award.

Warwick, Butler, and Raitt have deep ties to the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, and in recognition of the importance of the Foundation’s mission and their 20th anniversary, they have graciously given their time to co-host the Pioneer Awards show. Bonnie Raitt, one of the top slide guitarists and singers, as well as a 9-time Grammy Award winner, is a Co-Founder of the Foundation. Jerry Butler, an original member of soul group The Impressions and a highly successful R&B/Pop solo artist, served as Chairman of the Foundation for many years, and is now Chairman Emeritus of the Foundation as well as a past Pioneer Award honoree. Dionne Warwick, a 5-time Grammy winner, has served as a Director of the Foundation, and received the Foundation’s coveted Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

The 2008 Pioneer Awards Event Co-Chairs Octavius “Ted” Reid III, Sr. Vice President/Wealth Advisor in the Global Wealth Management for Morgan Stanley, and Judy Tint, entertainment attorney and consultant in New York City, both long-time members of the Board of Directors of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, expressed their enthusiasm about the Pioneer Awards and the participation of this year’s co-hosts.

For more information about the Rhythm & Blues Foundation and to purchase tickets for the 2008 Pioneer Awards, please visit www.rhythmblues.org or call 215-568-1080.
Media contact and press credentials requests: Jalila Larsuel of JL Media Relations, JLMediapr@aol.com, 626.398.5028 office or 213.369.4362. *PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE AT www.rhythmblues.org ( See media only) or contact jlmediapr@aol.com.