Keep Memory Alive hosted a prestigious lineup of entertainers at the 26th annual Power of Love® gala on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, including Sammy Hagar, Paula Abdul, Alice Cooper, Kevin Cronin, Nikki Glaser, Chad Kroeger, John Mayer, Michael McDonald, Sam Moore and Rick Springfield.
The evening raised crucial funds for Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to provide quality care, resources and many no-cost support and education services to patients and their caregivers as they fight brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, multiple system atrophy and multiple sclerosis (MS).
Keep Memory Alive Co-founders and Vice Chairs Camille and Larry Ruvo welcomed the nearly 1,500 guests, remarking on the nostalgic evening, as it fell on the anniversary of the death of Larry’s father, Lou Ruvo, the namesake of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, whose battle with Alzheimer’s disease serves as the catalyst for the gala.
“Many of you started on this Alzheimer’s journey with us. Then we expanded to Parkinson’s disease. As we’ve grown, it’s extraordinary that a town that I grew up in, with 2.5 million people, did not have a Board-certified MS doctor and our neighbors and friends were going out of state for care,” Larry Ruvo said. “So tonight, we are going to honor the Humm Family and the legacy of David Humm. He not only was a great Las Vegan, but as I have been often told, he was the ‘original Las Vegas Raider.'”
Ruvo continued, “also in attendance tonight is longtime friend Maria Shriver. It was her idea to launch the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Prevention Center. Two-thirds of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease are women. Maria asked ‘How is it that I as a woman can go to a neurological exam and have the same examination as a man?’ I told her I didn’t know, and then I went to the Cleveland Clinic. They worked tirelessly to create this definitive Alzheimer’s prevention program for women, which started in Las Vegas. This time, what happens in Las Vegas will benefit the rest of the world.”
Shriver, founder of The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM) and strategic advisor for Women’s Health and Alzheimer’s at Cleveland Clinic, listened from the audience. In addition to highlighting the disproportionate impact of Alzheimer’s on women, her attendance also coincided with the first anniversary of WAM formally joining Cleveland Clinic.
The Ruvos then presented the Community Leadership Award to entrepreneur and philanthropist John Paul DeJoria, who was at the original memorial dinner for Lou and wrote the first check that inspired Keep Memory Alive and the annual Power of Love gala.
DeJoria thanked the organization for the acknowledgement, saying, “Through all the decades I’ve been around, what I’ve found is when you do something for someone else and ask absolutely nothing in return, especially someone you know nothing about, you get the greatest high you will ever get in your life.”
Camille Ruvo then surprised the audience by presenting a second Community Leadership Award to Eloise DeJoria for the depth of her philanthropic endeavors as well.
The evening continued with a tribute to David Humm, who passed away from complications of MS in 2018. Raiders owner Mark Davis made a $1 million donation on behalf of the Raiders Foundation to create the David Humm Endowed Chair for MS. The gift matched a donation from the Ruvo family to total $2 million to further MS research and care at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. The touching moment moved Larry Ruvo to tears as he brought out David’s brother and daughter, Tom and Courtney Humm, respectively.
Courtney, who had served as her father’s primary caregiver, said, “I can’t believe that my dad is being honored this way and I’m so excited that he is going to help bring awareness to MS and help fund research.”
Glaser kicked off the entertainment with a side splitting comedy set before introducing Hagar, who toasted the audience with a tequila shot, then sang “Mas Tequila.” Other performances included:
- “How You Remind Me” by Kroeger
- “No More Mr. Nice Guy” by Cooper
- “Soul Man” duetted by Hagar and Moore
- “Keep On Loving You,” by Cronin
- “I’ve Done Everything For You” by Cronin, Springfield and Hagar
- “Jessie’s Girl” by Springfield
- “Last Train Home” and “Gravity” by Mayer
- “Minute By Minute” by Mayer and McDonald
The night culminated in the full cast performing a rousing rendition of “Takin’ It To The Streets.”
Throughout the evening, several stars reflected on the impact brain disease has had on their family, with Abdul sharing on the pink carpet, “I am beyond grateful for being able to get my father into the loving and wonderful hands of Larry Ruvo’s brain health center. How they took care of my father and how they prepared our family for what’s to come and what to expect and to be able to give my dad the dignity he deserved all the way up to his passing.” Cronin dedicated his performance of “Keep On Loving You” to his mother, Millie Cronin, who battled Lewy Body dementia.
Other notable guests included Romero Britto, Heather Thomson, Steven Lagos and Shane Victorino.
Chefs Wolfgang Puck and Tal Ronnen prepared the gourmet dinner, paired with wines from Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, followed by a dazzling dessert display from the MGM Grand pastry team.
Guests bid on once-in-a-lifetime silent and live auction items including golfing with Mark Wahlberg and tickets to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
