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NEWS
May
2002
Page
5
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Spend
The Evening With Howie D
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Source: Dorough
Lupus Foundation
Tickets for this year's Dorough Lupus Foundation benefit concert
will go on sale beginning Saturday, May 18th, at 10:00 Eastern
Standard Time. Tickets can be purchased through the Hard Rock Live
box office or TICKETMASTER
for $50 (US$).
The foundation is offereing a special package deal where you'll be
able to spend some time with Howie D.
This package will include a complimentary ticket that will allow you
to enjoy the "Lupus 2002" benefit concert from the front
of the Hard Rock Live concert facility. You will receive a program
booklet personally autographed by Howie. You will be invited to
attend an exclusive meeting with Howie D after the concert. Howie
will personally greet you and you will have the choice of either 1)
receiving one item autographed by Howie or 2) bring your own camera
and we will have staff personnel available to take your picture with
Howie D. Complimentary light snacks and non-alcoholic beverages will
be provided (cash bar will be available).
This package is exclusively available through the Dorough Lupus
Foundation and cannot be purchased through the Hard Rock Live box
office or Ticketmaster. To reserve your package, phone
1-866-448-2353, Monday - Friday 9:30 to 4:00 Eastern Standard Time.
The price for this package is $150.00 US$. This package is not
available after June 15, 2002 and only 100 individual packages are
available.
Packages will be available for pick up at the special "Will
Call" table located in front of the Hard Rock Live facility on
June 22 beginning at 7:00 P.M. Packages will only be released to the
purchaser, so please bring photo ID for verification purposes. Other
arrangements for package pick up can be made on a case-by-case
basis.
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BSB
Mom Sues AJ
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Source: The
Smoking Gun
As if you needed another reason to avoid a Backstreet Boys concert,
look what reportedly happened to Helene Bahn when she accompanied
her teenage daughter to a show in Tampa. According to this lawsuit
filed last month in Florida's Circuit Court, Bahn claims she was
seriously injured when Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean peeled off his
Tampa Bay Devil Rays jersey and tossed it into the crowd. Bahn says
after catching the shirt she was bum-rushed by other concertgoers
and, during the struggle for the jersey, the garment somehow became
wrapped around her neck. The ensuing tug of war, Bahn's lawyer told
TSG, left his client with a herniated disc that required surgery,
and other injuries. Bahn's lawsuit alleges that A.J. (he's the punk
with the Fu Manchu) should have known that "the throwing of an
object such as a jersey would result in a melee breaking out."
Though injured at a February 2000 show, Bahn waited two years to
sue, her lawyer said, because she tried to privately settle her
claim. Backstreet Boys lawyer Paul Karl Lukacs today (5/17) told TSG
the Bahn lawsuit was "meritless."
To view the court documents at the smoking gun, click here.
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YM
Magazine Article on Howie D
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Source: YM Magazine
Howie D And The Dorough Lupus Foundation
Backstreet Boy Howie D and the rest of the Dorough family started
a nonprofit foundation for the study, cure, and treatment of lupus
after Howie's sister Caroline died from the disease in 1998. Here he
tells ym.com about his upcoming benefit concert, explains what you can
do to help, and offers one lucky reader the chance to win an
all-expenses-paid trip to the concert in Florida.
Tell us about your sister Caroline.
My family has five kids and I'm the baby. There's three sisters, one
brother, and then they had me, 10 years later. So growing up, Caroline
was like another mommy to me. She got sick right after her firstborn.
For a while it kind of went misdiagnosed, because there were a lot of
other ailments with similar symptoms, like arthritis. But after they
tested her they found out it was lupus.
What is lupus?
It's a chronic autoimmune disease, which causes inflammation of
various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood, and
kidneys. Although the disease has been around for a while, only
recently has there been more research into it. There is a higher
percentage of people who have lupus than have AIDS, but you still
don't hear much about it. It mostly affects women of childbearing age.
It attacks your immune system, and when you're putting extra stress on
your body (like during pregnancy), it can emerge. You can take
medication, though, and it's a disease that, once it's diagnosed and
treated properly, lots of people can live with for a long time.
So why did Caroline die from lupus?
Well, if you do take the right medicines, [they] can prolong [your
life], most definitely, but I think Caroline didn't realize how
serious it was. She wanted to have children, too, which aggravated it,
and I don't know how regularly she took her medication. When she had
her second child, she couldn't carry the baby to full term due to the
lupus; he was born prematurely and suffered birth defects. But
Caroline never wanted anyone to feel sorry for her. She just wanted to
live life.
And was it a shock to your family when she died?
Totally. I had literally just seen her, she'd come to a Backstreet
Boys concert with her friends — she even had her doctor come out,
from Duke University. I knew she was ill at that point — she'd had
problems because she was coughing so much, she wasn't getting enough
oxygen. She was having seizures, too, but she came to a concert
anyway, and when I talked to her doctor, he didn't really even seem
that concerned. The next week, I was in California doing the MTV
Awards. We'd just won an award, and my brother called to say
congratulations, but also that Caroline was worse. We'd had another
concert planned, but my tour manager just let me go. My brother met me
at the airport in Florida and told me she'd had a blackout, but they
got her to come back and she was laughing and joking and back to
normal. But when I got to the hospital they'd lost her again; they
were trying to resuscitate her, and I remember watching them beat on
her chest. We were praying, but she didn't come back.
Was it hard to believe that she'd gone?
It was in the very beginning, because the way it happened, it was
just such a whirlwind. The same day as the funeral I had to get a
flight to South Africa to rejoin the BSB tour. I don't know how I got
through that. It made me take a step back and say, "Whoa. This is
all fine and great, but you know, your health, your loved ones are
more important."
What made you decide to start a charity for her?
I was talking with the doctor at the hospital and he said,
"You've lost a very important person in your life, but you could
help other people by talking about this disease." I thought about
it, and I know a lot of musicians who use their celebrity to help
charities, but I wanted this to be a Dorough family thing. So I talked
to my family and said, "We're going to do this, let's do this all
together."
Is it difficult for you to talk about her now?
At first it was hard constantly bringing it up, but I feel she's
like a guardian angel. You see all the other families out there and
how many kids I've touched, the ones who have got tests or now feel
they can talk about lupus openly, and you know it's worth it.
When did you decide to organize a benefit concert?
In January of 2000 we were like, "Why don't we see about
putting on a variety show? Maybe we can give some calls out to people
we know and tell them to come up." I did all these charity
concerts always myself; I would go to other people's foundations and
it would be a nice way of giving back. The first concert was small; we
had a lot of local bands — Deborah Gibson, O-Town, my sister
Pollyanna and I sang a duet. We had a lot of auction items. I called
up a lot of friends who couldn't make it — like Mariah Carey, Janet
Jackson, Elton John, Celine Dion — and a lot of them sent in things
that we were able to auction off. Last year's concert was even bigger,
and this year's will be awesome too. There will be great bands and
some amazing things to be auctioned. I just talked to Whoopi Goldberg.
We have a shirt she signed [that] we're going to auction off.
Are there any other events that happen during the year?
There are lots of things going on; you should check out www.doroughlupusfoundation.org
for the schedule. The other big thing we have is a cruise. Last year
we went from Key West [to] Cozumel in Mexico, Grand Cayman, and Ocho
Rios in Jamaica. Fans and their families can pay to come on the
weeklong cruise with us. We play charades, we do different games and
entertainment. It's fun. It gives the fans a chance to see me out
interacting, and it's a way for them to get to hang with me on a
normal basis.
And do the other Backstreet Boys get involved in the foundation as
well?
We're all supportive to each other's foundations. We're thinking
of getting together and doing a golf tournament with all the money
going out to all our different foundations. AJ came to the first lupus
benefit concert and sang. Last year, Nicky was trying to come, but
unfortunately he couldn't make it. But his brother Aaron came. We all
try.
What can ym.com readers do to help?
They can attend the events, like the Dorough Lupus Foundation's
Lupus 2002 concert in Florida on June 22. Some of the items we get
from celebrities will be auctioned online too. There's the cruise and
other events mentioned on our website. We also have something set up
with 1-800-Flowers, so if you order flowers and mention "Flowers
for Caroline," we'll get a percentage of the money. Finally, you
can become a member of the Dorough Lupus Foundation by registering on
the website, and you can make a donation there — if you donate $25
or more, you'll get a teddy bear.
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Win
a trip to Lupus 2002
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Source: YM Magazine
The lucky winner of this awesome prize will receive an
all-expenses-paid trip for two to Orlando to attend Howie's Lupus 2002
benefit concert. You and a friend — or, if you're under 18, you and
a guardian — could win:
Roundtrip coach-class airline tickets for two people to Orlando;
Two nights' accommodation (June 21-22) at the Hard Rock hotel;
Two front-row seats for the Lupus 2002 benefit concert;
Ground transportation to and from the airport;
American Express gift checks for two dinners for two, two lunches for
two, and two breakfasts for two; and
A gift pack including a signed Howie D program book, event poster, and
a weekend supply of Kraft snacks.
If you want to take a trip to Florida, meet Howie, and attend one of
the coolest concerts of the year, enter HERE.Good
luck!
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