Grammy(R) Award Winner Melissa Etheridge to Executive Produce and Host LIFETIME Television's Signature Breast Cancer Awareness Special

Grammy(R) Award Winner Melissa Etheridge to Executive Produce and Host LIFETIME Television's Signature Breast Cancer Awareness Special

Etheridge to Perform and Share Details About Her Personal Battle with Breast Cancer in 'WomenRock! Our Journey with Melissa Etheridge' Airing October 18th

Special Culminates LIFETIME's Breast Cancer Awareness Day, Part of Network's Award-Winning Campaign 'Our Lifetime Commitment: Stop Breast Cancer For Life'

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Following her emotional and show-stopping performance at the 2005 Grammy(R) Awards and in conjunction with the October release of her new album entitled Greatest Hits The Road Less Traveled, two-time Grammy(R) Award-winning singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge will host and perform on LIFETIME Television's signature musical special for breast cancer awareness, "WomenRock! Our Journey with Melissa Etheridge," it was announced today by Marian Effinger, Vice President Reality Programming. The special will be presented in an intimate setting at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. Taping on Thursday, September 29, the exclusive event will feature Etheridge performing and include candid moments in which she will share details about her personal battle with breast cancer. The special is the culmination of LIFETIME Television's Breast Cancer Awareness Day, which is part of the 11th year of the Network's award-winning "Our Lifetime Commitment: Stop Breast Cancer For Life," a multi-media and grassroots campaign that provides women the most up-to-date and comprehensive information about the disease.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050908/NYTH126 )

Executive produced by Melissa Etheridge and produced by John Cossette ("The Grammy(R) Awards") through Cossette Productions, Inc., "WomenRock! Our Journey with Melissa Etheridge" premieres Tuesday, October 18th at 11PM (ET/PT) on LIFETIME Television.

"When the opportunity came to host and executive produce the annual 'WomenRock!' event this year, I jumped at the chance," said Etheridge. "Sharing my own personal journey with breast cancer with millions of people is an honor and a responsibility. I look forward to an entertaining and enlightening evening," elaborated Etheridge.

"Melissa was our only choice for this year's special," said Effinger. "Given her recent battle with breast cancer, we are grateful that she wanted to share her story in such a passionate and honest way. She performed at our first 'WomenRock!' concert and it is profoundly meaningful to LIFETIME to partner with her at this year's event."

LIFETIME "Turns Pink"

For the first time, LIFETIME is devoting an entire day -- Breast Cancer Awareness Day -- to promoting the detection of this disease that claims the life of one woman in America every 13 minutes. On Tuesday, October 18th, the Network "turns pink" with an impressive slate of programming, public service announcements, motivational interstitials, live screen crawls announcing important facts and statistics, and corresponding online content, all carrying the breast cancer awareness and detection message. Viewers will continually hear the aggressive call-to-action to encourage breast cancer screening in a direct response to recent LIFETIME research suggesting that, although women are aware of the disease, they often don't use the tools of detection.

The Network's campaign is ongoing throughout October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Some of the programming highlights include an "Intimate Portrait" of "Today Show" personality Ann Curry, whose sister's breast cancer has inspired activism in Ann. In addition, an episode of the one-hour drama "Strong Medicine" will focus on "drive-through mastectomies" and builds on the Network's legislative advocacy effort to end this practice of sending women home hours after a mastectomy, often with adverse results. Currently, LIFETIME's online petition, urging Congress to adopt bipartisan legislation that would end this horrible practice, has 11 million signatures. On September 22, Etheridge will also join LIFETIME and leading, bipartisan lawmakers at a press conference in Washington to deliver the petition signatures to Congress.

With a Little Help From Our Friends ...

LIFETIME works with many of the foremost non-profit breast cancer advocacy groups in the nation including: The Anastacia Fund; Breast Cancer Action; The Breast Cancer Research Foundation; breastcancer.org; the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC); Nueva Vida; SHARE; Sisters Network, Inc.; Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization and the Young Survival Coalition. All of these organizations' vital missions are assisted by the support of LIFETIME's distribution partners including: Adelphia; Bright House Networks; CableOne, Inc.; Cablevision Systems Corporation; Charter Communications; Comcast Corporation; Cox Communications, Inc.; Insight Communications; Mediacom Communication Corporation; Time Warner Cable, Inc.; and other MSO partners. LIFETIME's campaign sponsors include Target, and Serta, among others.

"Today, one in seven women will develop breast cancer in her life, a risk that, 30 years ago, was one in eleven. It is critical that we encourage women to move beyond fear and misinformation, and make sure that they use the tools of early detection," said Meredith Wagner, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Lifetime Entertainment Services.

A Healthy Body of Work

Etheridge has recorded eight albums over the course of her career. She has won the Grammy(R) Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance twice -- for the song "Ain't It Heavy" in 1992 and "Come to My Window" in 1994. In 1996, she was honored with the prestigious ASCAP "Songwriter of the Year" award. In October 2004, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer and has become an outspoken advocate to eradicate the disease. At the 2005 Grammy(R) Awards, she made a return to the stage and performed a tribute to Janis Joplin. Etheridge was praised for her performance, which was considered one of the highlights of the show. The Kansas-born singer/songwriter has sold more than 30 million records worldwide and her greatest hits collection, Greatest Hits The Road Less Traveled, is due to be released this October.

Cossette's 20 year career in the entertainment and music industry has earned him the reputation as an innovative and creative producer of large scale and complex television events. Through his production company, Cossette Productions, Inc., he has executive produced some of the highest-rated Pop, Latin and Urban music programs including a number of the "Grammy(R) Awards," "Latin Grammy(R) Awards" and "BET Awards." In addition, he produces two other annual specials for BET, including "Walk of Fame" and "Comedy Awards." Cossette helped launch the American Express Blue Card advertising campaign when he produced, "Central Park in Blue with Sheryl Crow & Friends," featuring Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and The Dixie Chicks.

LIFETIME is the leader in women's television and one of the top-rated basic cable television networks. A diverse, multi-media company, LIFETIME is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. Launched in 1984, LIFETIME Television serves over 89 million households nationwide. In 1998, LIFETIME launched Lifetime Movie Network, now in more than 45 million homes, and in 2001, Lifetime Real Women. LIFETIME Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women, Lifetime Radio for Women, Lifetime Home Entertainment and Lifetime Online are part of LIFETIME Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050908/NYTH126 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN9 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: LIFETIME Television

CONTACT: Shari Kaufman for LIFETIME Television, +1-818-591-1667, sharikaufman@yahoo.com

Web site: http://www.lifetimetv.com/

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