HEROES WILL BE RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 25, 2008 ON ASTRALWERKS RECORDS
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Heroes album will be contributed to the humanitarian organization War Child
For immediate release:
War Child, an award winning charity that provides humanitarian assistance to war-affected children in some of the most devastated regions of the world, are proud to announce Heroes, a new benefit album to be released by EMI’s Astralwerks label on November 25th, 2008.
Heroes features a unique and unprecedented collaboration between some of the biggest names in music history and today’s hottest artists, working with a concept that mirrors one of the intrinsic aims of War Child’s efforts in war zones across the world – to place faith in the next generation. The Heroes concept is simple:Â Many of the biggest legends in music, including Sir Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Brian Wilson and The Clash, select one of the classic tracks from their own songwriting canon, and nominate an artist from the next generation to create a modern reworking of that classic song.
The full track listing will be announced in due course but already the album is shaping up to be a musical tour-de-force with the following amazing cover versions:
BECK covering BOB DYLAN’S “LEOPARD-SKIN PILL-BOX HAT”
DUFFY covering SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY’S “LIVE AND LET DIE”
BRIAN WILSON nominating RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, who performs a medley of two tracks from “Smile”
THE KOOKS covering THE KINKS’ “VICTORIA”.
HOT CHIP covering JOY DIVISION’S “TRANSMISSION”
THE HOLD STEADY covering BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’S “ATLANTIC CITY”
Many tracks by hugely successful contemporary artists are still being finished; the completed Heroes record will be an album of staggering musical diversity uniting the cream of musical giants from different generations.
War Child places its faith in the next generation and works to protect the most hard to reach children hit by a combination of war, poverty and marginalisation. Despite security constraints War Child is still operating successfully to protect youth in Darfur, Sudan, is on the ground in Afghanistan providing support to vulnerable women and their children, and has been in Georgia since 2004, long before Russian tanks rolled in.
As well as being recognized for working in the world’s most dangerous war zones, War Child is widely known for its association with the music industry, having produced award-winning charity albums and documentaries.
Sir Paul McCartney said “I have been supporting War Child since 1995. Their work with children in war zones saves lives and their work with those who take decisions that help them to do something about it saves even more lives. I think Duffy’s version of ‘Live and Let Die’ is great – I was really impressed. The breadth of talent on this project is amazing; it’s great that so many people gave their time, energy and support to this initiative. I urge everyone to support War Child.”
Dr. Samantha Nutt, Executive Director of War Child said, “War Child’s programming is predicated on the belief that by empowering children we stand a better chance of a peaceful future. The artists who have contributed to this record really are heroes, because it is through their creativity that we are able to continue our work with children whose lives have been devastated by war.”
“We are enormously proud to be involved with a project that encompasses such musical depth, socio-economic scope and global significance” added Glenn Mendlinger, general manager of Astralwerks. “It is our sincerest hope that this is the first of many new efforts by the music community to raise awareness of the plight of children throughout the world”.
War Child is an award-winning charity which provides opportunities and long term solutions for war-affected children, focusing on education, strengthening children’s rights, reducing poverty and fostering self reliance. War Child works in partnership with local people and organizations to build sustainable programming that empowers children and their communities. Working closely with the music industry, War Child provides awareness, support and action for children’s rights everywhere. www.warchild.ca
For more information about Heroes, please contact:
Steve Martin
Nasty Little Man
(212) 343-0740
steve@nastylittleman.com
Angelica Cob-Baehler
EMI Music North America
(323) 871-5552
angelica.cob@emimusic.com
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For more information about War Child, please contact:
Fiona Hack
Senior Manager, Music & Communications
War Child Canada
(416) 971-7474
fiona@warchild.ca