Idina Menzel to Debut New Song in Collaboration with Major League Baseball Programs for Cancer Research and Awareness

“Hope” on Sale at All Major Online Retailers Today; Proceeds to Benefit Stand Up To Cancer

Tony Award-winning actress Idina Menzel has recorded a brand-new song called “Hope” in support of Major League Baseball and its ongoing programs to raise awareness, as well as funds for research through the new Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) initiative. Idina’s recording of “Hope” was selected as the signature title song for important, inspiring efforts throughout the baseball industry. The song release marks the launch of a series of forthcoming initiatives to be announced at a later date.

“Hope” — which was written by award-winning composer Paul Hampton and produced by Steve Lipson (Annie Lennox, Whitney Houston, Paul McCartney) — will be available for purchase through iTunes® and other online retailers beginning today. Proceeds from the sale of the track will go to benefit Stand Up To Cancer. Fans will also be able to get the info on downloading the new song by visiting www.idinamenzel.com, as well as www.MLB.com/Hope.

Idina Menzel said, “I’m so honored to join Major League Baseball in its mission to raise awareness, as well as funds for research through Stand Up To Cancer, with the message of ‘Hope’ in this beautiful song.”

Launched in May, Stand Up To Cancer (www.standup2cancer.org) raises funds to accelerate ground-breaking research that will get new therapies to patients more quickly and save lives. With advances in the basic science of cancer and technology, investigators are on the verge of life-saving discoveries but desperately need additional funding. SU2C’s innovative approach to research is designed to enable the best and brightest scientists from leading institutions across the country and internationally to work together on “Dream Teams.”

Major League Baseball became the first major donor to Stand Up To Cancer earlier this year when Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig, a skin cancer survivor, announced that MLB would support the effort to further cancer research with an initial contribution of $10 million. For more info on Idina Menzel, please contact Warner Bros. Records Publicity

Nikki Herceg (615) 214-1489 / Nikki.Herceg {at} wbr(.)com

For more info on Stand Up To Cancer, please contact:

Kathleen Lobb (212) 522-4278 / klobb {at} eifoundation(.)org

For more info on MLB Advanced Media, please contact:

Matthew Gould (212) 485-8959 / Matthew.Gould {at} mlb(.)com

ABOUT IDINA MENZEL:

Singer-songwriter and Tony Award-winning star of Rent and Wicked, Idina Menzel has been on the road in support of her Warner Bros. Records debut album, I Stand, which was released January 29, 2008. The New York Times wrote of her show at Manhattan’s Town Hall: “The picture of Ms. Menzel that emerged was of an entertainer with a phenomenal voice … Vocally she suggests a robust Diana Ross with 10 times the stamina and lung power.” Idina wraps up her latest leg of her tour this week in Albany, NY on November 13th with more dates to be announced soon, including a special performance at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 27th. For more info, please visit: www.idinamenzel.com.

ABOUT MLB.COM:

Established in June 2000 following a unanimous vote by the 30 Major League Baseball club owners to centralize all of Baseball’s Internet operations, MLB Advanced Media LP (MLBAM) is the interactive media and internet company of Major League Baseball. MLBAM manages the official league site, www.MLB.com, and each of the 30 individual Club sites to create the most comprehensive Major League Baseball resource on the Internet. MLB.com offers fans the most complete baseball information and interactivity on the web, including up-to-date statistics, game previews and summaries, extensive historical information, online ticket sales, baseball merchandise, authenticated memorabilia and collectibles, fantasy games, live full-game video webcasts and on-demand highlights, live and archived audio broadcasts of every game, Game day pitch-by-pitch application, around-the-clock hosted and specialty video programming and complete blogging capabilities. MLB.com offers more live events on the Internet than any other website in the world.

ABOUT STAND UP TO CANCER:

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, and was established by a group of media, entertainment and philanthropic leaders, whose lives have all been affected by cancer in significant ways. Stand Up To Cancer is bringing industry resources to bear in the fight against cancer as never before. On September 5, ABC, CBS, and NBC donated airtime for the first-ever three-network simultaneous broadcast of a fundraising special to support cancer research.

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will conduct expert scientific review of the research projects and administer funds raised through the initiative under the direction of SU2C’s Scientific Advisory Committee. Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT chairs the Committee.
Contacts

Warner Bros. Records
Nikki Herceg, 615-214-1489
nikki.herceg {at} wbr(.)com