At the first UJA-New York ceremony in three years, LL Cool J, Gayle King and Andy Cohen paid tribute and Maneskin played an acoustic set for Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s influential president and chief content officer, before an audience packed with music-industry brass on Wednesday.
Greenstein’s impact and influence was amply demonstrated not only by Maneskin —who flew in specifically for the event from Europe, where they performed on the Eurovision Song Contest over the weekend — but by a tribute video that featured personal messages from Bruce Springsteen, Drake, Jimmy Buffett, Howard Stern, Megyn Kelly, Kevin Hart, Sway, Little Steven and others.
Most importantly, the event raised a record $2 million-plus for the United Jewish Appeal, which provides assistance to people in need everywhere from Ukraine and the Middle East to New York and more than 70 countries around the world. Every year, UJA allocates approximately $150 million in grants — and to date has allocated more than $13 million in emergency funds for Ukraine.
LL Cool J spoke of meeting with Greenstein when planning to launch “Rock the Bells,” his classic hip-hop show, staying that he “wanted to lift up hip-hop culture” and that Greenstein “believed in the vision. That’s why classic hip-hop has had this resurgence,” he said, pointing to the 2022 Super Bowl Halftime show, which featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and 50 Cent, as “a direct result of the work we’ve done.”
CBS News anchor Gayle King spoke of Greenstein’s deep love for music “despite his lack of musical talent,” which she compared favorably with Clive Davis’, and longtime UJA chair Daniel Glass spoke not only of Greenstein’s influence but his generosity and his drive to raise a record amount of money for this year’s event, which he did.
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Greenstein gave a moving speech in which he thanked everyone in the audience and said how great it was to see everyone gathered together after two years of pandemic, but didn’t get emotional until he thanked his wife and two sons, the latter of whom gave a brief speech honoring him earlier. “Work can’t do this,” but family does, he said.
Held at its traditional location of the Pierre Hotel next to New York’s Central Park, the event always features musical entertainment connected to the honoree, and Maneskin performed three songs, including their new single “Supermodel” and last year’s Eurovision winner, “Zitti I Buoni,” before departing quickly to catch a flight.
Previous UJA honorees include Universal Music’s Michele Anthony, Atlantic Records’ Julie Greenwald and Craig Kallman, Sony Music’s Rob Stringer and others. Previous musical guests or performers include Adele, Neil Diamond, the Weeknd, Lizzo, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Rihanna and Justin Timberlake.
