Spirit of Life
Tuesday night’s (Oct. 22) Spirit of Life annual dinner may have been the first to feature a drone light show during cocktail hour, but that was far from the only surprise at the 2024 edition that honored AEG Presents chairman and CEO Jay Marciano.
Though it had already been announced that Elton John would play to help fete Marciano, no one was expecting Celine Dion. Looking luminescent in a gorgeous black gown, the Canadian legend wowed the crowd as she introduced Marciano, whom she has known and worked with for more than 25 years.
“I know that your career has been marked by great accomplishments and has survived its share of great challenges, but it has been marked, above all, by a consistent expression of empathy, she said of Marciano. “In your leadership roles, you have shown such a generosity of spirit, a kindness and understanding of humanity that your legacy seems to be writing itself.”
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Marciano accepted his award in front of an audience of more than 1,200 attendees at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium that included a number of past Spirit of Life honorees, including Irving Azoff, Lucian Grainge, Rob Light, Sylvia Rhone, Don Passman, Jon Platt, Neil Portnow and John Sykes.
From left: John Sykes, President, Entertainment Enterprises, iHeartMedia, Inc., Jon Platt, Sylvia Rhone, CEO, Epic Records, honoree Jay Marciano, Chairman & CEO, AEG Presents, Evan Lamberg, President, MFEI & President, North America, Universal Music Publishing, Alissa Pollack, EVP, Global Music Marketing, iHeartMedia and Rob Light attend MFEI Spirit Of Life honoring Jay Marciano at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on Oct. 22, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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Before Dion and Marciano (and John) took the stage, there was the matter of some fundraising and some fun to be had.
Following the cocktail hour, the evening opened with a mockumentary expressing deep skepticism about presenting the Spirit of Life Award to a concert promoter for the first time given how low promoters are on the music food chain, according to many of the film’s participants. The humorous fake doc, which featured Jody Gerson, Azoff, Kelsea Ballerini, Kane Brown, and many more artists and executives, also gave Marciano’s pretend origin story as an accordion player who started in the ‘70s playing with Herbie Hancock and tried to join a pre-Tears for Fears Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith in an outfit called George & The Rockets. Both Tears for Fears members were in on the joke and played their parts in the doc to Spinal Tap perfection.
The evening was hosted by comedian/Saturday Night Life alum Fred Armisen, who moved the night quickly along. He introduced David Blaine, who explained his connection to cancer was a personal one: the illusionist’s mother was diagnosed with cancer when he was 16 and died when he was 20. As he told the story beside a set of his initials that he had set ablaze, he added that “City of Hope is about putting out fires,” and then proceeded to put out the fire by spewing voluminous amounts of water from his mouth as if he had swallowed a fire hose. He also wondered into the audience for two slight-of-hand tricks that left the audience shaking its head in disbelief.
As dinner was being served, a live auction that included such items as Super Bowl tickets and a meeting with New Orleans native son Jon Batiste, a golden pass to AEG’s tentpole festivals, Coachella, Stagecoach and Jazzfest; and a Wes Lang original work of art, raised several hundred thousand dollars, greatly aided by Universal Music Group chairman Lucian Grainge and former Hipgnosis’ chairman Merck Mercuriadis, each of whom paid $100,000 for custom Rolexes that were originally gifted to Elton John and his band by AEG. Bernie Taupin was on hand to describe the auction items and help up the ante. It was all more money in the coffers of City of Hope, which the Music, Film and Entertainment Industry (MFEI) division has raised more the $160 million for since the partnership started in 1973, said Universal Music Publishing Group North American president Evan Lamberg, who is chairman of the MFEI board. He took on the new role after five years as president of the board, a position now held by iHeart’s executive vp of global music marketing Alissa Pollack, who also spoke about the Duarte, Calif.-based center, whose mission is to cure and prevent cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other life threatening diseases.
Elton John performs onstage during MFEI Spirit Of Life honoring Jay Marciano at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on Oct. 22, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
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In his acceptance speech, Marciano joked, “I may be Elton John’s worst opening act ever. As soon as you can get me off the stage tonight, the Spirit of Life will intersect with the Circle of Life.” He then got serious about the music industry’s relationship with City of Hope, which first came to Marciano’s attention when he worked at Universal with Zach Horowitz, whose parents helped build City of Hope. “As a concert promoter, I’ve been on a lot of tours, but when I took the tour of the City of Hope campus in Duarte earlier this year to witness firsthand the comprehensive, compassionate care, it was a deeply moving and powerful experience. I’m reminded that what counts in this life: In this moment when our world is so terribly divided on too many fronts, City of Hope remains the kind of common ground we can all stand on together… Our industry is often maligned for our excesses. We’re loud, we’re narcissistic, we’re showy, but we are also very generous. When the world is facing a crisis, it’s often our industry and the people in this room that step up first to lend a helping hand.”
Marciano introduced John, who called Marciano one of the “four diamonds” in his career, and credited Marciano with his deal to for his 2004 residency at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace, which changed the face of how Las Vegas was,” and also coordinating his farewell tour. “We went out in the sunshine; I didn’t want to go out in the twilight.”
John closed the evening with a loving version of “Your Song,” a tender take on “Tiny Dancer” and an extremely robust, extended performance of “Rocket Man,” that had the crowd on its feet long before the song ended.
“Lyor Cohen changed my life,” said rapper and Drink Champs host N.O.R.E., speaking to the packed open-air space at Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday night (Oct. 18).
He was one of many to express appreciation for Cohen throughout the evening, during which industry titans (such as Lucian Grainge, Sylvia Rhone, Jon Platt, Julie Greenwald and more) mingled with hip-hop royalty (such as Jay-Z, Swizz Beatz, Ludacris, Diddy and others). After all, the genre’s 50th anniversary just to happens to coincide with the 50th anniversary of City of Hope‘s philanthropic partnership with the Music, Film and Entertainment Industry (MFEI) — making Cohen, considering his contributions to and impact on hip-hop, as well as his generous spirit and advocacy for accessible and affordable care for all, an ideal recipient of the City of Hope 2023 Spirit of Life Award.
And though his honor was revealed back in March, the event itself came at an unexpectedly fitting time, as it seemed the entire music industry was waiting to hear from Cohen (the son of Israeli immigrants) on current events unfolding in Israel and Gaza. It seemed that he, too, had been waiting for this moment and platform to share them.
“With all that’s going on in the world, Lyor, you powered though,” said Evan Lamberg, City of Hope’s MFEI board president. Lamberg also called Cohen – current global head of music at YouTube and Google – “indomitable,” noting his 93-year-old mother was in attendance, among many other members of Cohen’s family.
But before Cohen himself could speak, there was the business of fundraising. Diddy kicked things off, becoming the first to donate at the entry point of $100,000. Dozens followed, ultimately raising over $4.3 million. (Over the course of its 50-year partnership with City of Hope, the MFEI has raised a total of $150 million to cure and prevent cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases.)
Next up was the long-awaited performance, for which the crowd was spoiled with a never-ending parade of hip-hop and R&B greats as DJ Cassidy brought his Pass the Mic Live! franchise to the stage (much of which Jay-Z, seated at the Sony Music table next to Platt, bobbed along to). After Cassidy dedicated the set to Cohen (“an icon behind the scenes”), what followed was a 30-plus-minute jaw-dropping show during which the mic was passed nearly 20 times to artists and groups including: Slick Rick, Kurtis Blow, Big Daddy Kane, MC Serch, Nice ‘N Smooth, EPMD, Redman, Onyx, Warren G, Domino, Musiq Soulchild, Dru Hill, Ja Rule, T.I. with Swizz Beatz and Public Enemy, who ended with an all-star rendition of “Fight the Power.”
Just before 9:45 (45 minutes after the event’s scheduled end time), Cohen’s congratulatory video started to play, featuring everyone from Busta Rhymes and Slim to Kevin Liles and Julie Greenwald. Chuck D then returned to the stage to introduce Cohen, delivering a particularly memorable opening line: “[Run-]D.M.C. says hip-hop succeeds where religions and governments fail – and that’s ironic at this particular time right now.”
It’s a sentiment that set the tone for Cohen to deliver his own anticipated speech, which began with the sound of a computer glitching as the lights switched off (“Lights!” exclaimed Chuck, to which Lyor motioned all was well… it was all part of the plan). Cohen opted to open with an excerpt of the famous “final speech” delivered by Charlie Chaplin in the 1940 film The Great Dictator, in which he ultimately calls for unity.
“We came here to help eradicate cancer, but wouldn’t it be great if we could also eradicate hate?” said Cohen once the lights came back on. He spoke of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack at a music festival in Israel, saying it will never be forgotten and calling for the immediate return of those who were kidnapped and are still being held hostage. “I’m so sorry to hijack this special event to express my feelings as a human,” he said, “just as I express them when injustices happen to anyone targeted because of their race or religion or sexual identity… My heart goes out to all the Palestinian people in the region that have had to endure unnecessary loss of life. I pray for peace – won’t you join me?”
He proceeded to express gratitude for his family, many of whom were in attendance and many of whom, as he said, couldn’t make it “because they are burying Israeli children.” He then thanked the room for “a lifetime of tolerance and kindness and unwavering belief in the mission,” calling out Greenwald (“for always trying to make everyone better with love”), Liles (“you’re a selfless warrior”), Russell Simmons (“thank you for this wonderful life that I live”) and the “great music and great artists that I’ve had the honor of serving.”
Lastly, Cohen addressed “the additional controversy,” saying “I’m so sick and tired of people thinking that celebrity and fame trumps great music and artistry. We’re in a funky monkey moment but don’t get it twisted, quality will always prevail.”
LL Cool J then closed out the night (alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff and Adam Blackstone) with a medley of hits including “Mama Said Knock You Out.” Before stepping off stage, he addressed Cohen directly: “We went through a lot… and it all ended up really great.”
And as the crowd started to shuffle out, he shared one final message – and it perfectly underscored the ethos of the entire night: “Erase the Hate.”
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