The We Are Family Foundation, a not-for-profit organization founded by legendary songwriter and producer, Nile Rodgers, honored Adam Lambert with the Unity Award at its Annual Celebration Gala, on Thursday, January 31, 2013, at Manhattan Center's Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The evening was hosted by actress Rosie Perez and Toure, co-host of MSNBC's "The Cycle", and included a concert featuring Lambert, Rodgers, CHIC, and special guests, Taylor Dayne, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, Kathy Sledge, Sam Sparro, and Russell Peters.
The night kicked off with a star-studded red carpet and cocktail hour where guests mingled and congratulated extraordinary global citizens Adam Lambert and fellow honorees, Jeni Stepanek, Ph.D and Reservoir Capital Group founder, Daniel H. Stern, as well as a group of outstanding teenagers who are part of WAFF's Three Dot Dash Global Teen Leader program. Other notable attendees included WAFF President, Nancy Hunt; WAFF Director Emeritus and Television Host, Montel Williams; WAFF Director Emeritus and Tommy Boy Entertainment Founder and CEO, Tom Silverman; WAFF Board of Governors member and The B-52s singer, Kate Pierson; Musician and Model, Bebe Buell; New York Giants Cornerback, Justin Tryon; actress Sean Young; Real Housewives of New York City Aviva Drescher, Luann De Lesseps, and Ramona Singer; The Smiths bass guitarist, Andy Rourke; The Village People singer, Randy Jones, Celebrity Hairstylist, Angelo David; Celebrity Psychic, Thomas John; Celebrity Eyebrow Stylist, Joey Healy; Architect, Designer, Founder and Rockwell Group CEO, David Rockwell, and many more.
A live auction attracted bidders with such items as a one-of-a-kind, large format Polaroid portrait by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders of 20x24 Studios; a private guitar lesson with Nile Rodgers, an autographed Fender Stratocaster and "Lefreak", his best-selling memoir, a VIP experience at the 2013 Montreaux Jazz Festival, a seven-night Caribbean holiday at Amanyara in Turks & Caicos, a limited edition 1990 Stevie Ray Vaughn Fender Stratocaster signed by Jimmie Vaughn, Nile Rodgers and Buddy Guy, among many other unique and luxurious items. The winner of the portrait sitting with Greenfield-Sanders was Kidspirit Online Board Member and Representative to the United Nations at Academy for Future Science, Ann Hughes.
Greenfield-Sanders is known for his strikingly intimate portraits of world leaders and major cultural figures. From Presidents to porn stars, artists to Oscar winners, Greenfield-Sanders' work defines a certain cultural photographic canon of our time. His portraits can be found in numerous museum collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 2012 he exhibited all 50 portraits from The Black List series at The national Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. Greenfield-Sanders has made eight feature documentaries to date. He won a Grammy Award for his 1998 film "Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart and a NAACP Spirit Award in 2009 for "The Black List:Volume 1". His most recent film, "About Face: Supermodels Then and Now", premiered at Sundance in January 2012 and aired on HBO July 30, 2012.
When Adam Lambert appeared on the eighth season of "American Idol", people couldn't stop talking about the singer with the glam-rock sartorial flair, razor-sharp sense of humor, and jaw-dropping, powerhouse voice. His debut album, "For Your Entertainment", scored a smash single with "Whataya Want From Me," and earned him a Grammy nomination. In 2012, he released his follow-up album, "Trespassing", which debuted at Number One on the Billboard Charts. "Trespassing", which was Executive Produced by Lambert, revealed both his dark and light sides, and the complex gray area in between. "The search for balance is a key underlying theme of this album," says Lambert. "It's more honest and self-aware. I think it paints a clearer picture of who I am and what I want out of life."
Lambert has graced the covers of Rolling Stone, Details, Entertainment Weekly, The Advocate, and Out, appeared on every major late-night and daytime talk show, and become the first openly gay mainstream pop artist to launch a career on a major record label in the United States. Lambert channeled his newfound fame into raising awareness about issues close to his heart, advocating on behalf of LGBT causes The Trevor Project, Equality California, and GLAAD, as well as for charity organizations MusiCares, charity:water, and DonorChoose.org. "I'm a firm believer that life doesn't just happen to you", Lambert says. "We are all on a journey that we have the ability to affect and change. Sometimes we have to trespass out out of our comfort zone in order to evolve."
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