Verizon Wireless Unites The Fugees For An Exclusive V CAST Concert

[Nikos Kartalis]

Verizon Wireless helps kick off music’s biggest week with the reunion of one of the hottest hip-hop groups: the Fugees. Verizon Wireless is bringing the Fugees back on-stage tonight for a ticketed free open-air concert on the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles, creating a historic live performance. Following the show, concert footage and audio recordings will be available exclusively to V CAST customers. The Fugees – Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel – will world-premiere new songs from their unreleased album for fans clamoring for a follow-up to their 1996 album, “The Score,” the biggest-selling hip-hop album of all time. Starting tonight after the show, V CAST customers can watch highlights from the Fugees’s exclusive concert right on their V CAST-enabled phones. Both highlights from tonight’s concert and concert clips from previous Fugees concerts will be available on V CAST.

An event entirely for the people, the Fugees will perform new music to a crowd of over 8,000 fans on one of Hollywood’s hippest street corners – Hollywood and Vine. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the concert will begin at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are being distributed to fans in the Los Angeles area through local radio contests, TXT and PIX Messaging offers, at local area Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and by members of the Verizon Wireless Street Team.

The Fugees’ became legendary in the mid-1990s because they brought together music styles including hip-hop, soul and Caribbean music – particularly reggae – that appealed to the American public. Verizon Wireless V CAST customers can check out the concert performance within V CAST in the Entertainment – Music Videos – V CAST performances category – for a limited time, concert video from this exclusive performance will be available free to Verizon Wireless customers with $15 monthly subscription to V CAST and a compatible handset.

“We are excited to perform at this exclusive Verizon Wireless concert to kick off Grammy week in L.A. Verizon Wireless understands that the future of the music industry is to create a direct link between artists and their fans,” said the Fugees. “As artists, we realized that there was more music we needed to make together. Verizon Wireless’ V CAST allows us to connect directly to our fans by placing the music from our hearts into the palms of their hands.”

Deriving their name from the term “refugee,” the Fugees is noted for the integration of soul and reggae into their work, and one of their albums, The Score, was a multi-platinum and Grammy-winning success. With songs such as “Killing Me Softly,” “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready or Not,” the Fugees cemented themselves in music history. The group went their separate ways after 1997 but reunited in late 2005 for a European tour. The show tonight will be one of their first performances together in the States since the breakup in 1997.

“The Fugees have legions of fans from coast to coast who crave their music,” said John Harrobin, vice president of marketing for Verizon Wireless. “The availability of songs from this exclusive Fugees concert on V CAST – in both the video and music formats – gives our customers a front row seat in a truly mobile format while giving legendary bands, like the Fugees, a new way to connect with their fans. Music is a natural on wireless phones, and V CAST Music is the ultimate combination of content, mobility and convenience for the music fan in all of us.”

In the coming weeks, V CAST Music customers will also get exclusive access to audio recordings from the show and have the ability to purchase recordings from the Fugees triumphant reunion performance on their V CAST Music-enabled phones. Within V CAST from Verizon Wireless, songs are located in the V CAST Music section.

V CAST Music from Verizon Wireless gives customers access to songs from the Fugees and many other top artists, and lets them play music on their wireless phones – the same device they have come to rely upon for entertainment, information and mobile communication. Music fans can check out V CAST Music on several hot new phones from Verizon Wireless, including the Samsung a950. V CAST Music lets customers browse, preview, download and play high-quality digital music from their phones or online in the Verizon Wireless V CAST Music Store. V CAST Music songs cost $0.99 if purchased from the PC or $1.99 if purchased and downloaded over the air onto a V CAST Music-enabled phone with a monthly subscription. For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com/music.