WE'RE DOING IT FOR LOVE BENEFIT AUCTION: Premium Ticket Auction
Auction Start: 5/18 1pm EST | End: 5/25, 1pm EST

Robert Plant Leads Arthur Lee Benefit
~Jonathan Cohen, NY / May 9, 2006, 10:40 AM ET

Robert Plant leads the bill for a June 23 benefit concert for Love principal Arthur Lee, who is battling leukemia. Also set for the show at New York's Beacon Theatre are the Ian Hunter Band, Love guitarist Johnny Echols, Yo La Tengo and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah vocalist Alec Ounsworth (leading what organizers describe as an "indie-rock supergroup").

Tickets go on sale Friday (May 12) via Ticketmaster. Fans can also donate to a fund earmarked for Lee's medical expenses via TheLoveSociety.com.

Highlighted by the 1967 masterpiece "Forever Changes," Love crafted some of the most celebrated rock'n'roll of the psychedelic rock era. But its legacy languished in the ensuing years due to Lee's unpredictable behavior and prison stint on a weapons violation.

After being released from jail in late 2001, Lee assembled a new version of Love that enjoyed success touring in Europe and North America, often playing "Forever Changes" in its entirety. Of late, Lee has drafte another new lineup of Love in his new Memphis homebase.

Love frontman Arthur Lee is battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to a post from Los Angeles-based club booker Liz Garo on noted Love fan site. Lee has undergone three weeks of chemotherapy but continued treatment and a possible bone marrow transplant are looming.

As Lee is uninsured, friends are organizing a Los Angeles benefit concert for late May or early June. Garo says such venues as the Avalon, Disney Hall, the Greek Theatre and the El Rey Theatre are in consideration and that Calexico, Cake and X have been contacted to participate.
"We are looking for artists to perform a few of Arthur's songs that capture the spirit and magic of Arthur Lee and Love," Garo writes.

Highlighted by the 1967 masterpiece "Forever Changes," Love crafted some of the most celebrated rock'n'roll of the psychedelic rock era. But its legacy languished in the ensuing years due to Lee's unpredictable behavior and prison stint on a weapons violation.

After being released from jail in late 2001, Lee assembled a new version of Love that enjoyed success touring in Europe and North America, often playing "Forever Changes" in its entirety.