Power of Love®: Jimmy Kimmel
Keep Memory Alive’s 24th annual Power of Love® gala at MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas brought top artists and performers Billy Ray Cyrus, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Kelsey Grammer, Sammy Hagar, Derek Hough, Chris Isaak, Jimmy Kimmel, Katlyn Nichols, Greg Phillinganes and more together to honor music legend Neil Diamond and raise crucial funds and awareness for Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
Keep Memory Alive Founder and Chairman Larry Ruvo and Kimmel presented Diamond with an award in honor of his impactful musical contributions to the world, followed by a proclamation of March 7 as “Neil Diamond Day” in Las Vegas.
Kimmel added, “I love Las Vegas and I love Neil Diamond. Not only do I love Neil, but my parents love him, my friends love him, my children love him. Neil Diamond is an amazing songwriter and singer and I think you will agree that no Jewish man looks better in sequins than Neil Diamond.”
Diamond performed a concert of his hits including, “Hello Again”,” “Forever in Blue Jeans”,” “Cracklin’ Rosie”,” “Love on Rocks”,” “I Am…I Said” and “September Morn.” The audience jumped to their feet and sang along for a finale of “Sweet Caroline”,” as Cyrus, Hagar, Isaak, Kimmel and Nichols joined him on stage. Marking his first live performance since announcing his retirement from touring in 2018 due to his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, Diamond looked great, wearing a black leather jacket and sounding as if no time had passed.
About Keep Memory Alive
Keep Memory Alive, whose mission is to provide enhanced treatment and ultimately cures for patients and their families suffering from neurocognitive disorders, raises awareness and funds in support of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. By supporting Keep Memory Alive and its fight against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and memory disorders of all kinds, we can ensure progress towards better treatments and ultimately cures will occur in Las Vegas.
Earlier in the evening, Larry Ruvo and Keep Memory Alive Vice Chairwoman and Co-Founder Camille Ruvo presented Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson with the Keep Memory Alive Community Leadership award in honor of their generous philanthropic endeavors and vast contributions to medical research, education and many Jewish causes and organizations.
“It is a great pleasure that we recognize Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson with the Community Leadership Award tonight, but there is more to it to Camille and I, and for all of the people in this room. They truly have changed Las Vegas in countless ways. From innovations in the hotel industry, to bringing the remarkable COMDEX trade show, reinventing Las Vegas, which has turned us into a sought-after destination for conventions”,” said Larry Ruvo. “From the only preschool through 12th grade Jewish school in Nevada, known as the Adelson Educational Campus, to establishing the Adelson Clinic For Drug Abuse Treatment & Research. Sheldon and Miriam have worked tirelessly to improve our community and their philanthropy doesn’t stop here in Las Vegas. Indeed the Adelsons are known for their philanthropic efforts throughout the world and specifically in their beloved Israel.”
Celebrity chefs Wolfgang Puck and Masaharu Morimoto prepared exquisite cuisine paired with wines from Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, followed by a show stopping dessert from MGM Grand Pastry Team that featured a cocktail wrapped with cotton candy.
Guests bid on exceptional experiences and items during the silent and live auctions, including a private dinner with Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, lunch with David Beckham in Miami, a seven-day cruise off the coast of Australia aboard a superyacht and a luxury suite for the Las Vegas Raiders season home opener.
The evening generated the majority of annual revenue for Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to provide service, care and resources for patients and their caregivers in the fight against neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases; multiple system atrophy; frontotemporal dementia and related disorders; multiple sclerosis and more.
About the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health
Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, which opened in 2009, provides expert diagnosis and treatment for individuals and families living with Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body, frontotemporal and other dementias; Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, multiple system atrophy and other movement disorders; and multiple sclerosis. With locations in Cleveland, OH; Weston, Florida and headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, the center offers a continuum of care with no-cost opportunities for the community to participate in education and research, including disease prevention studies and clinical trials of promising new medications. An integrated entity, Keep Memory Alive, raises funds exclusively in support of the Nevada location.
For additional information, call (702) 263-9797 or visit keepmemoryalive.org.
