Pharrell Williams to Host City of Hope Gala Honoring Warner/Chappell’s Jon Platt
By Variety Staff
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Pharrell Williams will host the Oct. 11 City of Hope gala honoring Warner/Chappell Music CEO and chairman Jon Platt. The publishing veteran is being awarded with the organization’s Spirit of Life Award.
City of Hope, an independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases, houses its own Music, Film and Entertainment Industry Group, which was founded in 1973 and has raised more than $118 million for City of Hope by honoring top executives like Coran Capshaw, founder of Red Light Management, Universal Music Group chairman Lucian Grainge; Shelli and Irving Azoff, chairman and chief executive officer of Azoff MSG Entertainment; Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Apple’s Internet Software Services; and Rob Light of Creative Artists Agency.
Said Williams: “I’m honored to join my good friend Jon to support the groundbreaking and life-saving advances at City of Hope. O’ve had the pleasure of working with this amazing organization before, and I’m looking forward to what promises to be a fantastic event.”
“I’m excited that my one of my closest friends and an iconic artist, Pharrell, has agreed to host the October gala,” added Platt. “As a committed philanthropist in his own right, I knew Pharrell would understand the importance of City of Hope’s mission and want to get involved. It’s going to be an amazing evening.”
Wiliams most recently co-wrote and co-produced “APES**T” by Beyonce and Jay-Z and released as the lead single from The Carters’ album, “Everything Is Love,” and co-produced Ariana Grande’s much-anticipated new album, “Sweetener.” He has won 11 Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year in 2004 and 2014.
Platt joined Warner/Chappell in 2012 after ascending to senior posts at EMI Music Publishing. He has served as vice chairman of the board of directors for the MusiCares Foundation and sits on the boards of the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, the Motown Museum and the Living Legends Foundation. His family actively supports the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation — where Platt’s wife, Angie, serves on the JDRF Los Angeles Chapter Board of Directors and the international board of directors. In 2005, he launched the Big Scholarship Program, annually awarding three merit-based college scholarships.
