A familiar face will help ring in 2007 in a tradition that’s been around for decades. According to published news reports, broadcasting legend Dick Clark will co-host the annual “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” The former “American Bandstand” host, now 76, will join Ryan Seacrest and musical guest Christina Aguilera to ring in the new year before millions on hand to watch the ball drop in person and on television. You’ll recall, Clark missed the show two years ago when he suffered a stroke but returned to the holiday staple in a limited capacity last New Year’s Eve.
According to network records, Clark originated the New Year’s Eve program back in 1972 and had never missed a show until two years ago, following his December 6, 2004 stroke.
In other Clark news, the famed host has just announced he is auctioning off a number of items from his personal collection of musical memorabilia, including the microphone he used during “American Bandstand.”
“It’s tough to part with that one,” Clark said of the microphone, which was valued by at between $10,000 and $100,000.
Other items set for auction include a bass guitar that Paul McCartney played when he was a Beatle, a beaded glove that Michael Jackson wore in his moonwalking phase and the harmonica that Bob Dylan played in “The Last Waltz.”
Clark, a self described “pack rat” told reporters the items up for bid had filled 28,000 square feet in a California warehouse.
“I’ve got every Life magazine that was ever printed, because my grandmother saved them for me,” Clark said. “I’ve got most of the Playboy magazines. I’ve got Fortune – lovely photographs in there. I saved everything.”
The auction is planned for December 5th and 6th at New York’s Lincoln Center in Manhattan. Profits from the sale will go to benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation, which was founded by the music industry to raise money for cancer and AIDS research.