Keith Urban to Kick-Off Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign With Halftime Performance at Nationally Televised Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day Game

Calls on Fans to Sign Onto www.OnlineRedKettle.org for Chance to See Halftime Performance LIVE at Cowboys Stadium

ARLINGTON, Texas, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three-time Grammy Award winner Keith Urban will be the featured performer at The Salvation Army's Kettle Kickoff at halftime of the nationally televised Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game on November 25, 2010. Charlotte Jones Anderson, Executive Vice President Brand Management/ President of Charities for the Dallas Cowboys, made the announcement on ESPN's Monday Night Football this evening.  As part of the Kettle Kickoff promotion, fans will have a chance to win an expenses-paid trip to the game in Dallas versus the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints by signing up to be an Online Red Kettle virtual bell ringer at www.onlineredkettle.org. The game will air on FOX starting at 3:15 p.m. CST.

Keith Urban's halftime show will mark the 14th year that the Dallas Cowboys and The Salvation Army have partnered together to raise money for people in need in communities across the country. During the Thanksgiving Day performance Urban is expected to play a number of his top hits, including his latest single "Put You in a Song" from his forthcoming CD Get Closer (in stores on November 16th).

"I'm really honored to be a part of this great tradition and great partnership between the Dallas Cowboys and the Salvation Army," said Urban. "It's gonna be amazing playing in Cowboys Stadium in that environment at half time of the Thanksgiving game!"

As part of this year's Kettle Kickoff, two fans will have the chance to win a trip to Dallas to see the game, by signing up to host an Online Red Kettle at www.OnlineRedKettle.org. The contest is free to enter and allows participants to work as a virtual bell ringer, recruiting friends, family and colleagues to support people in need across America by donating online.  Fans who collect the most donations have a chance to win. Fans can sign up beginning October 25, 2010, and winners will be alerted on November 21, 2010.  Complete rules and contest details are available online at www.OnlineRedKettle.org.

"This year, Keith Urban, one of the most popular music artists in the world, will kick-off the Red Kettle Campaign in style, and we couldn't be happier," said Charlotte Jones Anderson, recently announced as the new Chairperson of The Salvation Army's National Advisory Board.  "We know Keith's drive to share his voice with others, will connect with and encourage the American public to give generously and support the important work being done by The Salvation Army."

Over the last 13 years, the nationally televised halftime performance has become an annual Thanksgiving tradition for fans in attendance and viewers at home. The Red Kettle campaign has raised more than $1.3 billion since the partnership began in 1997 and has helped The Salvation Army to serve 30 million people each year nationwide. Last year, the red kettles raised a record $139 million. Previous celebrity halftime performers include Daughtry, Jonas Brothers, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Sheryl Crow, Destiny's Child, Toby Keith, LeAnn Rimes, Creed, Jessica Simpson, Billy Gillman, Clint Black, Randy Travis and Reba McEntire.

"The partnership between The Salvation Army and the Dallas Cowboys is one that comes from the heart of the Jones family as part of their commitment to help  those in need during Christmas and year-round," said Major George Hood, National Community Relations and Development Secretary for The Salvation Army. "Every year the opportunity for Salvation Army beneficiaries grows thanks to this great relationship, as well as the support of great musical talent like Keith Urban, allowing the Army to provide food, utility assistance, adult rehabilitation from alcohol and drug addiction, disaster relief and other services to nearly 30 million individuals in more than 5,000 communities nationwide every year."

From its original beginnings as a fundraiser started by a Salvation Army captain in San Francisco in 1891, the Red Kettle Campaign has grown into one of the most recognizable and important charitable campaigns in the United States. As part of the campaign, more than 25,000 Salvation Army workers and volunteers spread throughout the country to ring bells daily and solicit spare change donations to the iconic red kettles from holiday shoppers. In 2009, the campaign raised more than $139 million nationwide, a new record supported by the public's  nickels, dimes, quarters, dollars, credit cards (and the occasional diamond ring or gold tooth) all collected and used to help people in the communities where they were raised. Last year, the funds helped The Salvation Army provide food, clothing, toys and other assistance to nearly 30 million Americans in need.

In addition to physical kettles, donors can contribute online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or through a virtual red kettle on any number of corporate or individual websites and Facebook pages.

About Keith Urban

In 2001, the Country Music Association honored Keith Urban with its Horizon Award, designating him a talented artist with a bright future, and to this day Urban remains the only Horizon Award winner in history to go on to win the CMA's Male Artist of the Year, a title he's captured three times, and the coveted Entertainer of the Year.  Nine years and nearly 15 million albums later, Keith is a three-time Grammy Award winner, who has also won a People's Choice and an American Music Award.  He's won five Academy of Country Music Awards, had 11 #1s, including 21 Top 5 hits and two consecutive #1 CDs.  He will release his sixth studio CD, Get Closer, on November 16th.  

In December 2009, Urban was named the year's most played country artist (at radio) thanks to #1 hits such as "Sweet Thing," "You'll Think of Me," "Only You Can Love Me This Way," "Better Life" and "Days Go By."  In addition, his 2002 smash "Somebody Like You" was named the #1 Country Song of the Decade by Nielsen BDS (based on radio airplay and audience impressions).

But Urban's reputation as an elite songwriter, musician, vocalist and virtuoso guitarist is no more evident than when he is onstage.  His electrifying concerts have played to sold-out venues from Australia to Germany to England to Canada and The United States and he's received high praise from critics. In fact, 2009's Escape Together World Tour, as well as 2007's Love, Pain & the whole crazy World Tour, were both, according to Pollstar, one of the top grossing tours for their respective years.

About Gene & Jerry Jones Family Charities

In the area of community service, Gene and Jerry Jones Family Charities' mission is built upon an overall philosophy of helping those who don't have the strength, the resources or the means to help themselves. As a sports entity that has enjoyed unprecedented success and recognition for more than four decades, the Dallas Cowboys feel a very strong obligation to transfer that championship tradition and the magic that it creates toward the bigger purpose of making a difference in the community. More information about the Dallas Cowboys is available at www.dallascowboys.com.

About The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in London in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for 130 years in the United States. Nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through the broadest array of social services that range from providing food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. 82 cents of every dollar The Salvation Army spends is used to support those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. For more information, go to www.salvationarmyusa.org.

SOURCE The Salvation Army