Sammie To Help Open Harlem USA Complex

Harlem USA -- a $66 million, 285,000-square-foot entertainment and retail complex in New York -- will commemorate its opening with a concert timed to coincide with Black Music Month. The June 8 show will be held at the famed Apollo Theater and will feature Freeworld/Capitol artist Sammie; other acts are yet to be announced.

Proceeds will benefit two Harlem charitable organizations. A concert-derived network TV special that would air the same month is also in the works.

The opening celebration will also mark the inauguration of the HMV Harlem Walk of Fame, which will annually induct six new members. Among the first are Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, TLC, and B.B. King.

Sammie's single "I Like It" is No. 30 on The Billboard Hot 100 this week. His debut album, "From The Bottom To The Top," is set for a March 14 release.


-- Gail Mitchell, L.A.