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Robert Plant, others set for Arthur Lee benefit
Robert Plant tops the list of performers set to appear at a New York City benefit concert for Love frontman Arthur Lee , who is battling leukemia.
Also on the bill for the June 23 concert at the Beacon Theatre are Yo La Tengo, Ian Hunter Band, David Johansen, Johnny Echols, Garland Jeffreys and Alec Ounsworth. Ounsworth, of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, is also organizing "an Indie-Rock Supergroup" for the show, according to a press release.
The show is the first in what is expected to be a series of benefit concerts for Lee, whose illness was disclosed last month by Los Angeles club booker Liz Garo on a Love fan site. Lee--who doesn't have health insurance--reportedly has undergone three weeks of chemotherapy, but will require additional treatment and possibly a bone-marrow transplant.
More information about the benefit is posted at its website.
Love was one of the more influential acts of the late '60s, and the group's 1967 album "Forever Changes" is generally considered a psychedelic classic.
Lee lived a troubled life, however, and--after allegedly threatening a neighbor--he eventually was sentenced to a 12-year prison stint in 1996 for illegal possession of a firearm. He had previous convictions on assault and drug charges.
He was released from prison in 2001, and began again under the name Love with Arthur Lee in 2002.
