Usher Announces Special Guests for Project Restart Benefit Concert on October 9

Usher Announces Special Guests for Project Restart Benefit Concert on October 9

Concert Sponsors Freddie Mac, Hibernia Bank, Visa, SunTrust Bank, Armani Exchange, Hands On Network and Others Join With Superstar for Hurricane Relief

NEW YORK, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Grammy Award winning superstar Usher announced that he will be joined by celebrity guests Alicia Keys, T.I., Young Jeezy, and Usher's own US Records family (Rico Love, One Chance) as well as special surprise guests to perform at Project Restart -- a benefit concert for the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on October 9 in Atlanta, GA at Philips Arena. Project Restart is Usher's concept and vision to assist and support Hurricane relief. BET will tape the concert and produce a Project Restart special with concert footage interviews and documentary style moments with artists, fans and evacuees in attendance and will air the one-hour special on October 19th from 8pm - 9pm EDT.

With the help of corporate sponsors such as Hibernia Bank, Visa, Giovanni The Margarita King and SunTrust Bank and civil leaders like Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Usher has invited 5,000 Katrina and Rita evacuees who were relocated to Georgia to attend the concert for free. The evacuees have already been contacted in Atlanta and tickets have been distributed. The remaining tickets for the concert are still on sale via Ticketmaster. A limited number of corporate suites and VIP seats are also available. All proceeds will benefit the Project Restart objective, which is to help Katrina victims settle into permanent or semi-permanent homes.

In response to the natural disasters along the Gulf Coast, Usher's New Look Foundation (http://www.ushersnewlook.org/) launched Project Restart, a series of high-profile outreach events designed by the Foundation to raise funds for Katrina and Rita relief. One of the first areas to benefit from Project Restart is Houston, TX, where Usher made a personal visit today, Friday, October 7th at 2 PM CST and joined Hibernia Bank and Freddie Mac to donate a 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom house, to a displaced family seeking permanent residence in Houston.

Project Restart is also offering concert goers the opportunity to get "Hands On" to assist in the long term recovery and rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast states. As part of this partnership with national Atlanta-based nonprofit Hands On Network, Usher will issue a challenge for "people-raising" that asks fans to sign up online to be a Hands On Hero, volunteering time, leadership, and special skills to help with Project Restart. Usher's Camp New Look kids will be working with the Hands On Network to recruit and register the volunteers.

Armani Exchange has produced limited edition Usher Signature long sleeve t-shirts to be sold online prior, during and after the concert. $25 from the sale of this limited edition t-shirt will benefit Usher's New Look -- Project Restart. To order a shirt or to make a pledge, visit http://www.armaniexchange.com/usher.

Web mail: http://www.ushersnewlook.org http://www.armaniexchange.com/usher

Source: Project Restart

CONTACT: Simone Smalls of Susan Blond, Inc., +1-212-333-7728 x118, simone@susanblondinc.com, for Project Restart

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