UNCF ARETHA TRIBUTE

The first year without Lou Rawls! But a stellar line-up nonetheless.



This year’s United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) An Evening of Stars® Tribute to Aretha Franklin (AEOS) kicks off Black History Month with national broadcasts, including the top ten media markets across the country, such as KNBC in Los Angeles and Chicago SuperStation WGN on Jan. 27, WWOR MY9 in New York and BET on Jan. 28. A complete station lineup, background information and media contacts can be found online at www.uncf.org/AEOS.

This year’s program, produced by acclaimed five-time Emmy-award winning director Louis J. Horvitz, marks the first time in 28 years a woman has been honored for her longstanding and generous support of UNCF’s mission to provide deserving students with access to higher education and scholarship support. Additionally, Franklin is also respected for her well-known activism and philanthropy on behalf of numerous other causes.

The program features stellar performances by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars including recent Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominee Jennifer Hudson, winning rave reviews for her performance in Dream Girls. Other performers include recent Kennedy Center honoree Smokey Robinson, American Idol winners Ruben Studdard and Fantasia, former AEOS honoree Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Michael Bolton and Joss Stone, to name a few. Ahmet Ertegun, music industry titan, founder of Atlantic Records and a Franklin mentor, makes his last national television appearance on the program honoring the Queen of Soul. Ertegun died in December of 2006.