LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – YouTube and Google’s global head of music, Lyor Cohen, is set to be honored with the Spirit of Life Award, Presented by City of Hope, at a gala dinner at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles on October 18.
“City of Hope is proud to honor the notable contributions of Lyor and celebrate 50 years of philanthropic partnership with the Music, Film and Entertainment Industry (MFEI) group,” said City of Hope CEO Robert Stern.
Cohen started his career as a road manager for Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. He later took on various leadership roles across the music business, from management to labels, including Def Jam and Warner Music Group (WMG). He later joined YouTube in 2016. Cohen sits on the boards of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (R&RHoF) and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). He is also an acting director for SCAN-Harbor, a New York-based charity.
“If you have the opportunity to give a gift back to the industry you love, with an organization like City of Hope, whose doctors and scientists’ passion for helping others is so extraordinary, it’s a no-brainer,” said Cohen. “My career has been shaped by a contrarian point of view. Open to making mistakes, making big bets, unpopular decisions and being comfortable with change; that is how culture shifts and how breakthroughs happen. To me, these are many of the same qualities that make City of Hope’s mission to transform the future of cancer care across all communities so impactful. I am honored to join this admirable group of Spirit of Life recipients and look forward to continuing the tradition of leaning on music to bring us together.”
“City of Hope’s MFEI division, and its board, are so thrilled that Lyor has accepted our invitation to be the Spirit of Life honoree as the MFEI division is celebrating its 50th year,” said Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), North America President and City of Hope MFEI Industry board president, Evan Lamberg.
“Besides Lyor powering American Hip-Hop as a cultural and musical phenomenon, I have known him to have a big heart and passion for helping others. This is certainly a prime example of that as he now takes an incredible step in helping City of Hope fight cancer, diabetes and HIV.”
City of Hope has given the same award to other notable figures like Republic Records founders, chief executives and brothers, Monte and Avery Lipman, Epic Records Chairman and CEO Sylvia Rhone, Sony/ATV Music Publishing boss and former head of Warner/Chappell Music Jon Platt, Universal Music Group boss Lucian Grainge and veteran music industry lawyer Joel Katz.
