Barneys and Lady Gaga team up for 2011 holiday campaign (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Luxury department store Barneys is teaming up with flamboyant pop singer Lady Gaga for a Christmas holiday campaign and window display called "Gaga's Workshop."

Barneys said on Monday it would turn over an entire floor of its flagship Madison Ave, New York, store to the pop singer's interpretation of Santa's Workshop, as well as dedicating its 2011 holiday window display to the Gaga theme.

Small limited edition gift items created by the "Born This Way" singer and Nicola Formichetti will also be available for sale, while signature artwork will be featured on Barneys holiday shopping bags and packaging.

Barneys New York chief executive Mark Lee said it would be the largest and most encompassing holiday theme ever mounted by the upscale fashion retailer.

"As a New York city landmark, we wanted to celebrate Lady Gaga as a fellow New Yorker and amazing talent," Lee said in a statement.

Known as much for her bizarre outfits as her string of hit records and music awards, Lady Gaga, 25, was born Stefani Germanotta and raised in New York City.

Barneys said it would donate 25 percent of all the items featured in Gaga's Workshop to a charity of the singer's choice.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Edited by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Campaign uses Marley, celebs to aid African crisis (AP)

NEW YORK – A Bob Marley song and the social media power of celebrities like Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Eminem may help the crisis in East Africa.

On Tuesday, the "I'm Gonna Be Your Friend" campaign was launched to raise money and awareness. About 10 million are suffering through a famine in Somalia due to a blistering drought.

A short film about the crisis was set to the Marley & the Wailers song "High Tide or Low Tide." Stars like Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber and about 150 others have pledged to promote it and the cause on Facebook and Twitter. The video will be for sale on iTunes, through Bob Marley's Facebook page and the website of the campaign. Funds raised will be donated to Save the Children.

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Music stars campaign to end hunger crisis in Africa (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A global social media campaign featuring a Bob Marley song was launched by some of the music industry's top stars on Tuesday to help stem the hunger crisis that is increasing in the Horn of Africa.

More than 150 stars including Lady Gaga, U2, Justin Bieber, Jay-Z, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney are among the well-known figures using their Facebook pages and Twitter feeds to urge fans to donate money to help the numerous families starving in the region.

The campaign, called "I'm Gonna Be Your Friend," can be found at www.imgonnabeyourfriend.org. It shows a video of Bob Marley & The Wailers' 1973 song, 'High Tide or Low Tide," accompanied by footage of malnourished children created by award-winning film director Kevin Macdonald.

About 3.6 million people are at risk of starvation in Somalia and 12 million people across the Horn of Africa, including in Ethiopia and Kenya, the United Nations says.

The drought-hit Horn of Africa urgently needs funds to rebuild agriculture and fight famine. The United Nations food agency has called for a high level meeting to help overcome the worsening crisis.

The "I'm Gonna Be Your Friend," campaign estimated it would reach over a billion people with partners such as Universal Music Group, Yahoo, Facebook, AOL, MSN, YouTube and Twitter and the power of celebrities' reach. The combined power of using Facebook and Twitter pages alone will reach 730 million, the campaign said.

Donations or downloads of "High Tide or Low Tide," for $1.29 will go to the Save the Children appeal for east Africa and used for food, water and medicine.

Other stars participating include Sting, David Beckham, Eminem, Rihanna, Annie Lennox, Bruno Mars, Madonna, Ricky Martin and Lily Allen.

"High Tide or Low Tide" was chosen by the Marley family for the resonance of the single's lyrics, "I'm Gonna Be Your Friend" and can also be found on www.facebook.com/bobmarley.

The video starts with the slogan "The Worst Drought in Decades" and after showing images of starving and thirsty children, ends with a black-and-white image of the late Marley behind the message, "Millions of children are facing starvation."

"We must stand up together as friends to put a stop to this, to feed our children and to save their lives," Rita Marley, Bob Marley's widow, said in a statement.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Country Hall of Fame kicks off expansion campaign (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is off to a fast start in its $75 million expansion campaign.

Officials said Thursday as they kicked off a public fundraising campaign that they've already received more than $56 million in commitments for an expansion that will more than double the size of the hall of fame. They announced plans to add more than 200,000 square feet of exhibit, classroom and archival space and an 800-seat theater.

When complete, the museum will be connected to the new Nashville convention center project across the street.

Alan Jackson and Ricky Skaggs helped kick off the campaign with music and Ford Motor Co. chairman Bill Ford and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean made appearances. Officials also announced that hall of fame board chairman Steve Turner kicked off contributions with a $6.5 million gift.

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