Chicago, IL — One of Chicago’s hottest fanfare events, Dare 2 Dream, will kick off its sixth benefit event on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at the House of Blues in Chicago. Rock icon and featured artist, Gavin Rossdale, will perform to support pediatric cancer research and treatment, with an emphasis on the second most common cause of death in children, leukemia. A portion of the event’s proceeds will benefit the Illinois Chapter of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services.

"Children are our future and so we must continue to demonstrate a commitment to developing new treatment options, conducting research and finding promising new therapies. Working together we can make real progress in the fight against cancer and give children a chance at living full and active lives.” - Mayor Richard Daley

Cancer kills 560,000 Americans every year. That’s 1,500 people each day, and one person every minute. Everyone has been touched by the damaging repercussions of cancer, but the tragedy is truly devastating when cancer claims the life of a child. Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among U.S. children between infancy and 15 years of age. Diagnosed regularly, pediatric cancer strikes randomly and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographic region – but at present, the prevention of pediatric cancer is impossible as its causes are mostly unknown. Due to the lack of essential media attention, awareness of much needed funding for pediatric cancer is virtually absent from the public eye. To make matters worse, the government’s cancer research budget has been cut every consecutive year since 2003. Given the rampant nature of this disease, we must stay committed to healing as many people as possible and finding a cure.

Gavin Rossdale, a musical icon and one of the most popular rock artists of the past two decades, will headline the event. As the lead singer for the British rock band Bush, he has sold over 10 million albums worldwide. The band’s first album, Sixteen Stone, peaked at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and generated an amazing string of five Modern Rock top 5 hit singles including two at #1, "Glycerine" and "Comedown." The band then released its second album, Razorblade Suitcase, which went straight to #1 on The Billboard Top 200 chart and spawned two singles that smashed into the top 5 of both Mainstream and Modern Rock charts. Gavin’s most recent album, Wanderlust, marks a new chapter in Gavin’s musical career and features some of his most personal and powerful songs to date. Gavin continues to rock some of the most prolific venues in the world and is excited to perform in Chicago to bring critical awareness and funding to this important cause.

“I am happy to team up with Platform One Entertainment for the Dare 2 Dream benefit event at the House of Blues. It is an honor to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to help save the lives of countless children.” - Gavin Rossdale

LLS’s mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. In 2009, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) celebrates its 60th anniversary! LLS has been developing new initiatives that have strengthened the organization's role as the leading private funder of blood cancer research and provider of programs for patients and their families.

"On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, we’re honored to partner with Platform One Entertainment and Gavin Rossdale for this special Dare 2 Dream event. For a company such as Platform One and a renowned artist like Gavin Rossdale to take the opportunity to use their significant talents and resources to bring attention to blood cancers and to people living with the diseases is an incredible gift that will have impact on the people we serve." - Pam Swenk, Executive Director of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Platform One Entertainment continues to demonstrate its commitment to developing and delivering momentous events to significantly contribute to prominent causes and charities. In the past two years, Platform One has already generated noteworthy visibility and funding for The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, The Common Ground Foundation, The Chicago Alliance to End Homelessness, The University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, and Working in the Schools. Partnerships with artists including Kings of Leon, Common, Cypress Hill, Talib Kweli and several others have made Dare 2 Dream a continued success.

“I’m extremely proud and honored to partner with the incredible Gavin Rossdale to help foster major awareness and raise important funding for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Illinois, all while continuing our pursuit to harness the power of music and entertainment to benefit important causes." - Jeff Sodikoff, President of Platform One Entertainment