Page to co-host charity dinner, auction

This news originally appeared in an edition of the newsletter "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History."

Jimmy Page and his wife will co-host the second annual dinner and auction to benefit Action for Brazil's Children. The event will be held May 8 at the Marriott Harbor Beach Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

About 150 people were in attendance at the Tower Club on April 4, 2001, for the first dinner and auction for the ABC Trust. Among the items auctioned off was a Gibson Les Paul autographed and personalized by Page. In addition, there were other signed guitars and various items from artists including the Bee Gees and Gloria Estefan. Page won the $14,000 bid for a rare Gibson guitar from the Who's Pete Townshend.

The hardest item to sell in 2001 was a gift certificate for laser microsurgery hair removal. A Led Zeppelin fan who sat at that table said, "No one would bid on the hair removal thing, and I stood up and started bidding against myself for it. Jimmy cracked up!"

That bidder, Joe Hecht, managed to set a comical tone for the evening. "Jimmy thought it funny that I bid against myself several times," he said. "And before the final bid on the $14,000 axe, they made sure I did not want to outbid him again."

Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain presided over the 2001 auction. It was the third time that year that Page and Iron Maiden crossed paths in the name of charity. In January at the Rock in Rio music festival in Rio de Janeiro, the band presented Page with a Fender Stratocaster autographed by all of Iron Maiden.

With Page's autograph added, that guitar was sold March 14 at an online auction benefiting Casa Jimmy, a homeless shelter Page helped to establish in October 1998.

Tickets, priced at $150 each, can be purchased from:

ABC, Inc.
2400 East Las Olas Blvd.
Suite 262
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 USA
Phone: 954-537-9440
Fax: 954-337-2350
E-mail: abcinflorida@yahoo.com