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Gibson Guitar and Baldwin Piano are sponsoring the “Gibson/Baldwin Night at the Net,” an annual pro-celebrity tennis event that opens the 79th Annual Mercedes-Benz Cup tennis tournament Monday, July 25 in Straus Stadium at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the MusiCares Foundation, a charitable affiliate of the Recording Academy, which focuses on health and human services for the music community.
59-time career singles titles winner Andre Agassi, No. 8 ranked Andy Roddick, No. 5 ranked doubles champs the Bryan Bros., and tennis great Pam Shriver (as chair umpire) will participate from the jock side, and actor/comedian Jon Lovitz, musician/actor Gavin Rossdale (Bush), and talk show host Dr. Phil will be picking up their tennis rackets to battle it out on the court along with the tennis pros. Musician/producer and American Idol judge Randy Jackson will serve as host, and actor/comedian Steve Harvey will be a line judge.
R&B/Funk collective Kool & The Gang, R&B/neo-soul artist Angie Stone, and Jazz/R&B artist KEM will perform, with other celebrities and musical performances to be announced shortly.
“It’s heartwarming to see artists and athletes contributing their time and talents to benefit MusiCares’ Emergency Financial Assistance program, which provides confidential help to those in our music community who need help the most,” said Les Bider, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MusiCares, which was established in 1989 by the Recording Academy to provide a “safety net of critical financial, medical and personal emergency assistance for music people in times of need.”
Gibson, sponsoring the event for the fourth year, is renowned for producing classic models in every major style of fretted instrument, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos, as well as a new digital guitar. Founded in 1894 in Kalamazoo, Mich., and headquartered in Nashville since 1984, Gibson Guitar Corp.’s family of brands now includes Epiphone, Dobro, Valley Arts, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Slingerland, Maestro, Baldwin, Hamilton and Wurlitzer.
