Inside Spirit of Life's Star-Studded Gala Honoring AEG's Jay Marciano with Elton John and Celine Dion

Tuesday night (October 22) Spirit of Life The annual dinner may have been the first to feature a drone light show during cocktail hour, but it wasn't the only surprise at the 2024 edition that honored the Chairman and CEO of AEG Presents Jay Marciano.

Although it had already been announced that Elton John would play to support Marciano, no one expected Celine Dion. Looking radiant in a gorgeous black dress, the Canadian legend wowed the crowd as she introduced Marciano, who she has known and worked with for over 25 years.

“I know your career has been marked by great achievements and surviving great challenges, but it has been marked, above all, by a steadfast expression of empathy,” he said of Marciano. “In your leadership roles, you have shown such generosity of spirit, kindness and understanding of humanity that your legacy seems to write itself.”

Marciano accepted his award in front of an audience of more than 1,200 in attendance at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, which included several past Spirit of Life honorees, including Irving Azoff, Lucian Grainge, Rob Light, Sylvia Ron, Don Pasman, John Platt, Neil Portnow and John Sykes.

Before Dion and Marciano (and John) took the stage, there was the matter of raising money and having fun.

After the cocktail hour, the evening opened with a mockumentary expressing deep skepticism about giving the Spirit of Life Award to a first-time concert promoter, given how low down on the music food chain supporters are, according to many of the participants of the film. The humorous fake document, which appeared Jody GersonAzov, Kelsea Ballerini, Kane Brownand many more artists and executives, also gave Marciano's pretend origin story as an accordionist who started out in the 70s playing with Herbie Hancock and tried to participate in a pre-Tears for fears Roland Orzabal and Kurt Smith with an outfit called George & The Rockets. Both members of Tears for Fears got in on the joke and played their parts in the doc to Vertebral tap perfection.

The presenter of the evening was the comedian/Saturday Night Life alum Fred Armisenthat the night passed quickly. He introduced David Blainewho explained that his connection to cancer was personal: his delusional mother was diagnosed with cancer when he was 16 and died when he was 20. As he told the story next to a set of his initials that he had set on fire, he added that “ The City of Hope is all about putting out fires,” and then proceeded to put out the fire by spewing copious amounts of water from his mouth as if he had swallowed a fire hose. He also had the audience wondering about two light tricks that left the audience shaking their heads in disbelief.

As dinner was served, a live auction that included items such as Super Bowl tickets and a meet and greet with the son of New Orleans John Baptistea gold pass to AEG's tentpole festivals, Coachella, Stagecoach and Jazzfest. and a Wes Lang original artwork, raised several hundred thousand dollars, with the big help of Universal Music Group president Lucian Grainge and former president of Hipgnosis Merck Mercuriadiseach of whom paid $100,000 for custom Rolexes that were originally given away Elton John and his band from AEG. Bernie Taupin was on hand to describe the auction items and help progress. It was more money in the coffers of City of Hope, whose Music, Film and Entertainment Industry (MFEI) division has raised more than $160 million since the partnership began in 1973, said the president of Universal Music Publishing Group North American. Evan Lambergwho is chairman of the board of MFEI. He assumed the new role after five years as chairman of the board, a position now held by iHeart's executive vice president of global music marketing Alyssa Pollackwho also spoke about the Duarte, California-based center whose mission is to cure and prevent cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases.

In his acceptance speech, Marciano joked: “I might be the worst opening act for Elton John ever. Once you can get me off the stage tonight, the Spirit of Life will intersect with the Circle of Life.” He then got serious about the music industry's relationship with City of Hope, which first came to Marciano's attention when he worked at Universal with Zach Horowitzwhose parents helped build the City of Hope. “As a concert organizer, I have been on many tours, but when I toured the City of Hope campus in Duarte earlier this year to witness firsthand the comprehensive, compassionate care, it was a deeply moving and powerful experience. I'm reminded that what matters in this life: At a time when our world is so terribly divided on so many fronts, City of Hope remains the kind of common ground we can all stand on together… Our industry is often maligned for our excesses. We are strong, we are narcissistic, we are flamboyant, but we are also very generous. When the world faces a crisis, it's often our industry and the people in this room who come first to help.”

Marciano introduced John, who called Marciano one of the “four diamonds” in his career, and credited Marciano with his 2004 Las Vegas residency deal at Caesars Palace, which changed the face of Las Vegas.” , and also coordinating his farewell tour. “We went out into the sun. I didn't want to go out into the twilight.”

John closed the night with a beloved version of “Your Song”, a tender version of “Tiny Dancer” and an extremely powerful, extended rendition of “Rocket Man”, which had the crowd on their feet long before the song ended.