“Guitar Hero” Joins Fight for Music Education

Popular Video Game Guitarist Marcus Henderson Joins the Little Kids Rock Honorary Board

Montclair, NJ – October 12, 2007 - Little Kids Rock (LKR), an innovative non-profit program that provides free instruments and instruction for public school students, announced today that Marcus Henderson, the lead guitarist for the award-winning PlayStation game Guitar Hero, has accepted a seat on its Honorary Board.  As an Honorary Board member, Mr. Henderson will help raise awareness about the plight of music education across the United States. Mr. Henderson joins other notable Honorary Board members Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, B.B. King, Joe Satriani, James Burton, and Brad Delson of Linkin Park.  

"Guitar Hero’s success has demonstrated the joy and excitement children feel when creating music," said Mr. Henderson. "I am proud of my involvement with Guitar Hero and am thrilled that it has led me to become involved with Little Kids Rock.  Little Kids Rock knows that effective music education should be as fun as a game.”

“Our definition of a “Guitar Hero” is anyone who helps Little Kids Rock place a guitar in the hands of a child, which truly makes Marcus Henderson a Guitar Hero.” said Dave Wish, Executive Director for Little Kids Rock.  “Our Honorary Board members, teachers and donors are all Guitar Heroes, and Marcus Henderson will help us raise awareness that anyone concerned about music education can be a Guitar Hero.”

Little Kids Rock teaches kids how to play pop, rock, reggae, funk, blues, rap and hip-hop music. LKR students not only perform, but they also compose and record their own music. They have released four full-length CDs as well as music videos featuring student-written originals. To date, the Little Kids Rock program has served more than 10,000 students in California, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

About Marcus Henderson
Marcus Henderson has helped revolutionize music education by making it accessible through a video game, Guitar Hero.  The hugely-popular game has won many awards, including Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack at the Interactive Achievement Awards, and has sold over a million copies.  Marcus’ work has also been featured on the game’s sequels, Guitar Hero II for PlayStation and XBox, and Guitar Hero III, which will debut in Fall 2007.  His performance on the games, which include songs by legendary artists like Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, ZZ Top, and the Ramones, has won Marcus numerous accolades and recognition as an innovator in music.
The Guitar Hero franchise has sold over 5 million copies.

About Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock believes that music is a critical component of first-rate education. Many schools have been stripped of their music programs. These cuts have had a disproportionately large impact on children from low-income backgrounds. Little Kids Rock restores music to its rightful place in the academic lives of kids in our public schools by providing a rich music education program including instrument instruction, free instruments and trained mentors. Founded by a single elementary school teacher in 1996, Little Kids Rock is now serving thousands of students in CA, NY, NJ, TN, LA, PA, and GA. More information can be found at: www.littlekidsrock.org.

Note to Media:
Interviews with spokespeople, high-res images and b-roll available upon request

Media Contact:
Allison Neves, PR Director
Little Kids Rock
415-948-1200
allison@littlekidsrock.org