k.d. lang, LeAnn Rimes, Lulu, Ruth Brown and Smokey Robinson will be among the performers at the Society of Singers' (SOS) presentation of the 14th annual ELLA Award to Elton John at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 10, 2005.

Tickets are priced at $600, $900, $1,250 and $2,500, with all proceeds to benefit the non-profit Society of Singers.

Barry Manilow, the recipient of the 12th annual Ella Award in 2003, will present the award and perform, as will Elton John himself. All the performers will choose songs originally made famous by Elton. Elizabeth Taylor and Merck Mercuriadis, president of Sanctuary Management, are the event's Honorary Co-Chairs, while the Benefit Co-Chairs are John's songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin; Zach Horowitz, president and COO of the Universal Music Group; and Society of Singers president and CEO Jerry F. Sharell.

Named after its first recipient, Ella Fitzgerald, the ELLA Award is given to singers whose significant musical accomplishments are equaled by their dedication to charitable and humanitarian causes both local and international.

Previous recipients of the award, besides Ms. Fitzgerald herself, include Frank Sinatra, Tony Martin, Peggy Lee, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Lena Horne, Rosemary Clooney, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Dame Julie Andrews, Placido Domingo, Barry Manilow, and Celine Dion.

The Society of Singers was founded in 1984 by Chairman Emeritus Ginny (Mrs. Henry) Mancini and Gilda Maiken Anderson. With the help of donations from private and corporate sponsors, SOS offers comprehensive services to meet the emergency financial needs of applicants who have earned their primary living as singers for five years or more. SOS aids professional singers of all ages, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. It also works within the entertainment community to offer scholarship programs designed to advance the vocal arts.

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