Roger Daltrey, top artists combine talents for Teen Cancer America

The event: A contemporary art auction, coupled with a concert by Roger Daltrey – legendary frontman for the Who - raised more than $500,000 for Teen Cancer America, dedicated to improving the lives of teens and young adults suffering from cancer.

The scene: Soho House in West Hollywood provided the venue on Tuesday night, attracting 250 guests to the private club’s open-to-the-sky terrace, lined with olive trees and offering a bird’s eye view of Los Angeles. Artwork by Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley, the Chapman Brothers, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Charming Baker and others filled the available spaces between the bandstand and seating areas. Guests could peruse the offerings before the auction and concert: a 10-song acoustic set, in which Daltrey paid tribute to Elvis and Johnny Cash, in addition to performing classics such as “Behind Blue Eyes” and “The Kids Are All Right.”

The crowd: A mix of familiar British and American faces turned up to support the cause, including TV personality Cat Deeley, actor/producer/designer Sadie Frost, model Liberty Ross, DJ Pete Tong, boxing champ Sugar Ray Leonard, director Sam Taylor-Johnson; musicians Matt Goss, Paul Stanley of Kiss and Jason Starkey (Ringo’s son); and John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of hair care company Paul Mitchell. Rebecca Rothstein of Merrill Lynch and Darren Strowger of the Strowger Trust co-hosted the evening, along with Daltrey, artist Jake Chapman, Josh Roth and Jordan Kaplan. Andrea Fiuczynski served as auctioneer.

Quote of note: Daltrey, a co-founder of the charity along with his bandmate Pete Townshend, spoke of the need for teen-friendly hospital wings, which he called “teen zones… a refuge where teens can go and where they can talk to each other, where perhaps someone in the early stages (of cancer) can see someone who is nearly through and coming out OK.”

Daltrey continued, “Cancer in this age group (13-23) is more common than you think.”

“It’s a problem to be a teen,” he said, “so this is a double whammy… If you want to raise money for children, you put ‘Bambi’ on the poster… But you know what teens are like. They don’t talk to us and we complain about them, but in some ways they are more deserving.”

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