Nick Lachey News

(10/2/02, 12 p.m. ET) -- The second annual Gibson/Baldwin All-Star Music Bash to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was held Tuesday (October 1) in Nashville at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. Among the celebrities participating in the event were the event's co-chair Richard Marx, 98 Degrees member Nick Lachey, Emerson Drive, Clint Black and Keith Urban.

Lachey performed some of his group's biggest hits, along with some new material he recently wrote with Marx. While the pop star admits his appearance was a bit of a favor to Marx, he had a somewhat personal motivation, as Lachey tells LAUNCH, "The first thing about this event that spoke to me was that Richard had asked me to do it, and if nothing else I would do it as a favor to him, but cystic fibrosis is something I became familiar with as a kid growing up in Cincinnati watching Boomer Esiason play quarterback and his son was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and it became a very publicized thing in Cincinnati, so just seeing him on TV and his little boy struggling to breathe and stuff--it really kind of spoke to me, and so it's something that really I would love to be a part of helping."

Newcomers Emerson Drive, who recently scored a top five country hit with their debut single, "I Should Be Sleeping," were personally invited by Marx because of their new connection with the songwriter/producer. According to lead singer Brad Mates, the group was passing through Marx's hometown of Chicago earlier this year and the '80s pop icon asked that they stopped by to meet him. A few DreamWorks Records executives had also stopped by to meet with Marx and play Emerson Drive some potential singles for their debut album.

Marx was so impressed with both the band and the songs that he got on the phone with DreamWorks and put in a bid to work with them. Mates explains, "That day after we left Richard phoned DreamWorks and he said, 'Listen, I'm freakin' out over these songs,' and he said, 'I just think the band is so cool. I'd love to work with them!' so within three days we were all in Nashville. Richard was producing 'Fall Into Me' and 'How Lucky I Am' and it turned into be the second single--'Fall Into Me.' Just in the last couple weeks we found out that Richard's gonna be producing the whole CD. Right before we got introduced to him--a week before--I went out and bought the greatest hits CD of Richard Marx, and here we are now, great friends with him, and he's gonna be involved in another Emerson Drive record, so it's very exciting!"

The $150-per-ticket event included dinner, both silent and live auctions, and a concert. Marx co-chairs the event with his wife, actress Cynthia Rhodes (Dirty Dancing). The mission of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is to assure the development of the means to cure and control cystic fibrosis and to improve the quality of life for those that have the disease.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

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