Neil Patrick Harris & Dua Lipa Will Host Virtual Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar Party

The 29th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Pre- Party will be hosted by Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor and New York Times bestselling author Neil Patrick Harris alongside Sir Elton John and David Furnish, with a stripped back performance by GRAMMY Award-winning artist Dua Lipa for the virtual event on April 25, 2021, plus other names to be announced. For the first time, Foundation supporters worldwide are invited to attend the famed Oscar party by joining a 60-minute Pre-Show Special produced by Fulwell 73 at Rosewood London. Tickets for the Pre-Show are currently on sale via Ticketmaster. The Pre-Party Special will be powered by Cisco Webex to securely bring the event live to audiences.

'This year, we are bringing our Oscar Party into people's homes for the first time virtually for an unforgettable evening with David (Furnish), myself, our dear friend Neil Patrick Harris and the incredible Dua Lipa plus many fabulous surprise names,' says Sir Elton John, Founder, Elton John AIDS Foundation. 'Now more than ever, we need to ensure that one pandemic does not override another, and we cannot forget the 38 million people living with HIV globally who need our care, love and support so we hope everyone joins us for this special one of a kind Oscar Pre-Party.'

Since the annual event's inception in 1992, The Academy Awards Viewing Party has supported the Elton John AIDS Foundation's efforts to raise millions for their lifesaving work. With its presence across four continents, the Foundation is committed to overcome the stigma, discrimination and neglect that keeps us from ending AIDS.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone in unimaginable ways, but the Foundation is committed to ensure that one pandemic does not override another. UNAIDS estimates that there will be an extra half a million deaths from AIDS this year alone in sub-Saharan Africa due to service disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the Foundation will raise money for young people at risk and living with HIV all over the world. This age group are smart and savvy and require health care services and support in different ways than adults do, and the Foundation will work to ensure that services are accessible on the platforms that are best suited to young people. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world to explore many modes of virtual health care and we need to ensure that this continues in a digital era to serve young people affected by HIV.

To bring the event globally, the Pre-Party Special will be hosted four times to meet the different time zones of a region's broadcast of the Oscars: 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET on April 25 in the U.S.; 7 PM GMT on April 26 in the U.K.; 7 PM AEST on April 26 in Australia and New Zealand; and an optional repeat at 7 PM PT on April 26 in the U.S. Each Special per region is possible to host up to 100,000 attendees through Webex. This means 400,000 supporters of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and entertainment fans worldwide will be able to enjoy the Special for a great cause.

"It's such an honour to be a part of one of the most iconic Oscar Parties and I'm really proud to support the Elton John AIDS Foundation to help tackle the stigma that exists around HIV as we need to build a kinder and more accepting world together. And to share the stage with Elton John will be a dream come true!" says Dua Lipa.

'Young people represent 25 percent of the world's population but are disproportionately affected by HIV making up 36 percent of new infections,' says Anne Aslett, CEO of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. 'For the first time ever, this year, the Elton John AIDS Foundation's Academy Awards Viewing Party will be a special virtual ticketed show and we'll bring the Party to your home. Just like the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world to explore virtual events, it's also forced us to explore many modes of innovative virtual health care to serve youth affected by HIV so this year, we're raising funds to support young people at risk and living with HIV all over the world so we can continue the best care suited to youth in this digital era.'

'We're honored to partner with this legendary Foundation which has always been a leader in addressing inclusion issues such as access to HIV healthcare, treatment, and research for vulnerable populations,' said Jeetu Patel, Cisco's Senior Vice President and General Manager, Security and Collaboration. 'With the Pre-show Special, we're proud to be the bridge for the event taking place online for the very first time to host more audiences than ever before. This includes Webex helping to scale up to the Foundation's goal of reaching 400x more people this year to advance the Foundation's efforts to end AIDS.'

'The young people affected by HIV today have already lost parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts to HIV over the past decade. Now they face the twin threats of HIV and COVID-19 for their generation. We need to prevent this catastrophe so that young people are equipped to deal with the huge challenges that lie ahead,' says David Furnish, Chairman of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

'I've always been a huge supporter of the Elton John AIDS Foundation and could not be more honored to host this year's virtual gala with my close friends Elton and David,' says Neil Patrick Harris. 'Coming off the back of working on 'It's a Sin' about the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, this cause resonates more deeply with me than ever. The tireless work done by the Foundation to help end the AIDS epidemic is incredibly inspiring, and I'm proud to have a small part in the effort to continue raising awareness for the movement.'

The 29th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party is supported by Rosewood London.

Global pop superstar Dua Lipa firmly solidified her position as both a critical success and top radio performer when she released her GRAMMY Award-winning #1 UK sophomore album Future Nostalgia in 2020 to worldwide acclaim. The album was the follow up to her eponymous 2017 debut, which is certified platinum, spawned 6 platinum tracks, and made Dua the first female artist in Brit Awards history to pick up five nominations, with two wins for British Breakthrough Act and British Female Solo Artist. Future Nostalgia landed on the year-end "Best Of" lists of everyone from Rolling Stone and Billboard, to the New York Times and Pitchfork. It is certified platinum in the US & UK and spawned multiple worldwide hit singles including the #1 hits "Break My Heart" and US 3x platinum lead single "Don't Start Now," which broke her personal best record of weeks at #1 at US Top 40 radio. In addition to breaking radio records, Dua is also a dominate force on streaming platforms, topping Spotify's artist chart as the most streamed female artist on the platform and is currently the second biggest artist overall with over 60 million monthly listeners. Future Nostalgia now has 7 billion streams across all platforms worldwide. Dua received 6 nominations at the 2021 GRAMMY Awards, including Record, Song and Album of the Year. She is now a three-time GRAMMY winner, having received awards for Best Pop Vocal Album this year and for Best New Artist and Best Dance Recording in 2019.

Fans can purchase tickets to the Oscar Pre-Show special for $19.99 via Ticketmaster here. Please visit www.eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org for additional information.