JOE WALSH KICKS OFF HIS FOUNDATION, VETSAID,
WITH 1ST ANNUAL BENEFIT SHOW TO HELP VETERANS AND THEIR
FAMILIES
ZAC BROWN BAND, GARY CLARK JR, AND KEITH URBAN TO JOIN WALSH ON
SEPTEMBER 20, 2017 AT THE EAGLEBANK ARENA IN FAIRFAX, VA
Monday, July 17, 2017 Los Angeles, CA – Today Joe Walsh, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee and multi GRAMMY Award recipient, announced his first annual concert to support VetsAid, his new 501(C)(3) certified national non-profit to help veterans and their families. Zac Brown Band, Gary Clark Jr. and four time GRAMMY Award recipient Keith Urban will be joining Joe on the bill September 20, 2017 at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, VA, with more artists to be announced soon.
Veterans and their wellbeing have always been important to Walsh, a Gold Star family member himself. His father was a flight instructor for the first US operational jet powered aircraft, the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, and died while stationed, and on active duty on Okinawa when Joe was just 20 months old.
Joe has been involved with veterans’ related causes for years, supporting various charities, visiting the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and offering free guitar lessons to the wounded veterans there. He has campaigned for his good friend, Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Iraq War veteran and double amputee.
Joe aims to use this platform to raise funds and awareness for the still urgent and significant needs of our returning soldiers. Through the establishment of VetsAid and its annual benefit concert, he wants to give back to those who have given so much in sacrifice for our country.
Consider these devastating statistics: In addition to the nearly 7,000 American Military Casualties of War from the wars in the Middle East since 2001, there are nearly 51,000 who made it home wounded. Returning veterans have a 50% higher suicide rate than other civilians.
VetsAid plans to directly support a variety of established and tested veterans-based charities, namely those with a proven track-record that take care to provide complete and holistic care for veterans and their families, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
“War is hell for everyone involved,” Joe Walsh explains. “I lost my father when I was a baby, before I could even make a memory of him. I stopped counting the number of friends I lost in the Vietnam War or that came home forever scarred mentally or physically or both. We’ve only just begun to appreciate the long-term impacts on our troops home from Iraq. And in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history continues to drag on with no end in sight and just last month this administration committed to send thousands more of our young men and women into the conflict with no defined goal or strategy.[3]”
“I had to do something and seeing as though rock-and-roll seems to be what I do best,” Walsh continues, “it’s also the least I could do for those who have served and continue to serve our country. We’re all in this together as Americans and seems to me lately that people are forgetting that. I asked my buddies Zac, Gary and Keith to step up and I’m so grateful that they did. Let’s put on a show, raise some money and celebrate our vets… and let’s do it every year!”
For more information please visit: www.VetsAid.org
About Vets Aid: VetsAid is a national 501(c)3 non-profit organization started by rock legend Joe Walsh to raise and disperse sorely needed funds to veterans groups across the country that are helping the men and women who served our country, as well as their families, and showing them the dignity, compassion and honor they deserve.
About Joe Walsh: Best known for his powerful guitar licks, multi-GRAMMY award winning singer, songwriter and producer Joe Walsh has entertained the masses and captivated his peers for more than four decades with such classics as “Funk #49,” “Walk Away,” “Life’s Been Good,” “Rocky Mountain Way,” “Life in the Fast Lane” and “Ordinary Average Guy.”
In 1969 Walsh found success with The James Gang, followed by a stint with Barnstorm, a trio he founded. In 1973 Joe released his first solo album, which proved him a legitimate solo artist with a limitless career on the horizon. By 1975 he joined The Eagles, bringing a harder rock sound to the group with the acclaimed and over 50 million selling hit Hotel California, The Long Run and Eagles Live. In 1994, after a 14-year hiatus and several solo albums, The Eagles released Hell Freezes Over, which reached #1 on the Billboard charts and sparked one of the most successful tours in music history. The Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, the first year they were nominated.
In 2001 Walsh received an Honorary Doctorate from Kent State University and in 2012 the Berklee School of Music gave each of the Eagles Honorary Doctors of Music degrees. Walsh performed at the 2012 Grammy’s with Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl and at the 2012 MusiCares event honoring Paul McCartney. That June Walsh released Analog Man, his first solo album in 20 years, performing solo shows around the world to support it throughout that year. In 2013 the award winning The History of The Eagles showcased at Sundance, the two part authorized documentary, and in February it aired on Showtime. In conjunction with the April release onto DVD the Eagles began their extensive The History of The Eagles World Tour.
On February 9, 2014 Walsh was featured in several songs on the CBS Special The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles. In 2014 Walsh played select solo shows as well as with the Eagles on The History of The Eagles World Tour, which continued through July of 2015. In Fall 2015 Joe launched his solo Walsh Toor 2015, and on October 4, 2015 Joe performed at the UNITE to Face Addiction rally in Washington DC, headlining with friends including Steven Tyler, Sheryl Crow and Jason Isbell. 2016 saw Walsh on the road, including a co-headline arena tour with Bad Company as well as solo Walsh Toor dates.
In August 2016 “Citizen Soldier,” was released - a documentary about an Oklahoma National Guard deployed to Afghanistan - to which Joe wrote original music, and marked the launch of a charity he co-founded, VETS AID. Recently Walsh performed with Vince Gill, James Taylor, Chris Stapleton and Kacey Musgraves for All For The Hall. October saw Walsh as Grand Marshall for the NASCAR “Citizen Soldier 400” race at Dover Downs. On December 4th Walsh became a Kennedy Center Honor recipient as a member of the Eagles, which was presented by Ringo Starr. On December 8th MoPop gave Walsh “The Founders Award”, also presented by Ringo Starr and Paul Allen. The event included a tribute concert celebrating Walsh’s musical legacy by Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins, Paul Rodgers, Todd Rundgren, Robert Randolph and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. January 2017 saw Walsh back out on the road including tour dates with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
