Omar Apollo, Brandy Clark and Coco Jones performed and three people were honored Tuesday night at the first T.J. Martell Foundation since 2019, which raised more than $1.3 million for cancer research.
The honorees included Warner Records Co-Chairman and COO Tom Corson, who received the Lifetime Music Industry Award; Def Jam Chief Creative Officer and executive VP Archie Davis, who received the Rising Music Superstar Award; and Grammy Award-winning and Tony-nominated songwriter/producer Shane McAnally, who received the Spirit of Music Award. The event was hosted by Gala Co-Chairs and Board Chairman John Esposito, Tunji Balogun, Aaron Bay-Schuck, Robert Carlton, Steve Gawley, Laura Swanson and Julie Swidler.
Brandy Clark (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for T.J. Martell Foundation)
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Presenters for the evening’s honorees included singer Josh Groban (for Corson), “Black Panther”/ “Wakanda Forever” co-writer and director Ryan Coogler (for Davis) and actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth (for McAnally).
Coco Jones (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for T.J. Martell Foundation)
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The evening also included a hilarious video tribute for Corson featuring messages from Clive Davis, Michael Buble, Dave Grohl, Bebe Rexha and others.
(L-R) Josh Groban, Omar Apollo, and Tom Corson (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for T.J. Martell Foundation)
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The evening was doubly special for McAnally and Clark, who recently earned a Tony nomination and Drama Desk award for their work on the hit Broadway musical, “Shucked,” which is being staged just a few blocks from the gala, held at Cipriani’s on New York’s 42 nd Street.
Steve Gawley, Archie Davis, and Ryan Coogler (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for T.J. Martell Foundation)
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“Tonight has been a truly memorable night for all of us at the T.J. Martell Foundation and we were honored be able to bring the gala back to New York City,” said John Esposito, chairman of the T.J. Martell Foundation.
Shane McAnally accepts the Spirit of Music Award from Kristin Chenoweth. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for T.J. Martell Foundation)
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“It was a thrill to bring together such an incredible room to celebrate tonight’s three honorees and to be in the presence of such wonderful talent from the presenters to the artists who performed, all in the name of continuing our mission to further the critically important work the foundation does in support of cancer research.”
The event was also the foundation’s first since former executive vice president and general manager Melissa Goodwin was charged with wire fraud for embezzling $3.7 million from the organization. She was sentenced to four years in prison.