WHY

Music legends Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire have announced that they will raise money for local food banks nationwide on their 30-city national co-headlining summer concert tour beginning June 5 in Orange Beach, AL (dates below). In exchange for cans of food or a donation, fans will be able to download three new songs recorded earlier this year.

Although the fans will recognize two of the songs, the recordings will catch them by surprise, as Chicago recorded Earth, Wind & Fire's "I Can't Let You Go," and Earth, Wind & Fire recorded Chicago's "Wishing You Were Here." Together the bands created a new original song written by Earth, Wind & Fire entitled, "You." These newly recorded songs will be available during the summer tour with a donation by the concert goers. The donation promotion of "Three songs for Three cans or Three dollars" will benefit specific food banks in each city. Coordinating the effort will be WHY. WHY is dedicated to fighting the root causes of hunger and poverty by supporting grassroots organizations that create self-reliance, economic justice and equal access to nutritious and affordable food.  The organization will collect the cans and/or donations, and in exchange, the fans will be given a download card to access the three songs. For those fans interested in participating, but unable to make it to the shows, they can go to www.EWFandChicago.com to make a donation and download the songs.

Earth, Wind & Fire's founding member and singer Philip Bailey originally conceived the program; "This is a dream come true. We are honored to align with the WHY organization and help the local communities with their important work."

Chicago took it and ran with it, contacting WHY. Said Chicago's Lee Loughnane, "We want to invite everyone to help us do our small part to help feed America. We worked with WHY on last year's tour. They are a great organization and we are proud to work with them again."

The 2009 Summer Tour will be presented by AEG Live. Each band will perform a full set, and the two bands will come together at the beginning and the finale featuring both bands onstage together. In 2004 and 2005, the two bands teamed up for what is still talked about as one of the great musical spectaculars in recent touring history. A DVD filmed in 2005 at the Los Angeles shows was certified double platinum almost immediately upon release - a tribute to the extraordinary and unique quality of this collaboration.

Earth, Wind & Fire made international news recently when President Obama declared in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine that the group was among his favorites in his iPod. He said, they are "rhythm and blues and pop staples for me." The group was invited by President Obama to perform in the East Room on February 22 at the White House for the first social event of the new administration. The Earth, Wind & Fire 11-piece band is among the most influential, commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the last three decades. Formed in 1969 in Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire's 39-year history resulted in millions of albums sold worldwide and distinguished awards and accolades. Founding members: Maurice White (leader, vocalist, songwriter); Philip Bailey (lead vocalist, percussionist); Verdine White (bassist); Ralph Johnson (drummer and percussionist) have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and are credited with eight Grammy Awards, 20 Grammy nominations, Four American Music Awards, honors from the NAACP, the BET Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The principal members of Earth, Wind & Fire have received honorary Doctorate Degrees from the Arts and Media College at Columbia College Chicago. To this day, Earth, Wind & Fire remain one of the top globally popular touring attractions. Influencing top artists including Prince, Mary J Blige, Outkast and many more, Earth, Wind & Fire's signature sound and distinctive musical styles fuse pop, soul, jazz, rock n' roll, psychedelic, African roots music and disco with a base in funk.

Chicago has written, recorded and performed some of the most popular and musically innovative songs in rock history. Billboard Magazine positioned the band at #13 on their Hot 100 chart's All-Time Top 100 - a byproduct of having sold more than 100,000,000 records and having earned 20 Top hits, 5 Number One albums, 5 Number One singles and 5 Gold singles. Chicago has also won a Grammy Award, American Music Awards, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, had a downtown Chicago street renamed in their honor, and been celebrated with an exhibit at the Chicago History Museum. An incredible 25 of their 30 albums have been certified platinum, and Chicago is the first American band to chart Top 40 albums in five decades. Through it all, Chicago remains a working band, touring continually since forming in 1967. On the philanthropic front, Chicago actively supports two charities through their concert ticket sales. Since 1995, the band has donated a portion of each ticket sold to the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, which seeks a cure to the fatal children's disease, Neimann-Pick Type C. For the last four years, the band has donated an additional portion of ticket sales to help raise money for Hannah & Friends, which works to improve the quality of life for children and adults with special needs. Hannah & Friends is the personal mission of Maura Weis and her husband, current Notre Dame Football Coach Charlie Weis.

WHY is dedicated to fighting the root causes of hunger and poverty by supporting grassroots organizations that create self-reliance, economic justice and equal access to nutritious and affordable food. Founded in 1975 by the late Harry Chapin and current Executive Director, Bill Ayres, WHY works to put an end to hunger suffered by 36.2 million Americans and nearly 1 billion people worldwide. WHY's main programs include the National Hunger Hotline 1-866-3-HUNGRY, which refers individuals in need of emergency food assistance to soup kitchens, food banks, government programs and community organizations in their neighborhoods; the Grassroots Action Network, which provides information, networking opportunities, capacity building and access to over 8,000 anti-hunger and poverty community organizations across the United States and around the world; and Artists Against Hunger & Poverty which is supported by Bruce Springsteen, Michael McDonald, Chicago, Earth Wind & Fire, Joss Stone, Darryl McDaniels, Jackson Browne, O.A.R, and many others. www.whyhunger.org

Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago
Summer Concert Tour - 2009

FRI 6/5/09 Orange Beach, AL The Amphitheater at The Wharf

SAT 6/6/09 Atlanta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre At Encore Park

TUE 6/9/09 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena

WED 6/10/09 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion

FRI 6/12/09 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Event Center

SAT 6/13/09 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Event Center

SAT 6/14/09 Bethel, NY Bethel Performing Arts Center**

TUE 6/16/09 Boston, MA Agganis Arena

WED 6/17/09 New York, NY Madison Square Garden

FRI 6/19/09 Mashentucket, CT MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods

SAT 6/20/09 Verona, NY Turning Stone Resort Casino**

SUN 6/21/09 Columbus, OH Value City Arena at Jerome Schottenstein Center

TUE 6/23/09 Indianapolis, IN Conseco Fieldhouse

WED 6/24/09 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre

FRI 6/26/09 Rosemont, IL Allstate Arena

SUN 6/28/09 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center

TUE 6/30/09 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest

WED 7/1/09 Minneapolis, MN Target Center

FRI 7/10/09 Houston, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

SAT 7/11/09 Dallas, TX Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie

MON 7/13/09 Sandia, NM Sandia Amphitheatre

TUE 7/14/09 Denver, CO Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre

FRI 7/17/09 Seattle, WA WaMu Theater

SAT 7/18/09 Portland, OR Rose Garden Theater Of The Clouds

TUE 7/21/09 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose

WED 7/22/09 Ontario, CA Citizens Business Bank Arena

FRI 7/24/09 Glendale, AZ Jobing.com Arena

SAT 7/25/09 Las Vegas, NV The Joint @ The Hard Rock & Casino

TUE 7/28/09 Los Angeles, CA Nokia Theatre L.A. Live

FRI 7/31/09 Berkeley, CA The Greek Theatre at UC-Berkeley

SAT 8/1/09 Lake Tahoe, NV Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harvey's


**Non AEG Live dates

AEG Live, the live-entertainment division of Los Angeles-based AEG, is dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performance, touring for a variety of programming, and multi-media production. AEG Live, the nation's second-largest concert promotion and touring company, is comprised of special event, broadcast and exhibition divisions, fourteen regional offices, and numerous state-of-the-art venues nationwide. The company's national promotion arm is currently producing tours and productions including Bette Midler "The Showgirl Must Go On" and Cher at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas; and "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," an international tour of the artifacts of King Tut. Recent and upcoming promoted concert tours have included artists such as Justin Timberlake, Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Hannah Montana, Spice Girls, Prince, Britney Spears, Kenny Chesney, So You Think You Can Dance, Paul McCartney, High School Musical, American Idols Live and The Color Purple. Goldenvoice, the company's Southern California-based regional promotion division, created and operates the award-winning annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival as well as Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival. The company operates Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie in Texas, Nokia Theatre Times Square, Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE and the recently opened Club Nokia. For more information, go to www.aeglive.com.