A Musical Legend Gives His Time and His Talent to a Great Cause

I sometimes get to meet the most amazing people...it's truly one of the great perks of my job.
 

I was recently down visiting Beaches Turks and Caicos and I got to spend some time with one of my long-time musical idols, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, a founding member of the legendary hip hop band, Run-DMC.
When he wasn’t onstage or performing at the Scratch DJ Academy, I got the chance to hang out with him. What a cool guy! I found out that he is really, really interested in offering children the opportunity to lead a better life. When he was 35 years old he discovered that he was adopted and that drove him to try and give kids some of the same breaks that he had received. In fact, he even won the Congressional Angels in Adoption Award for his work with children in foster care.
 

Since one of the main initiatives of the Sandals Foundation is to give back to our community by uplifting the lives of children all across the Caribbean, DMC and I talked a lot about our mutual interest in transforming kids’ lives. He was so excited by what the Sandals Foundation has going on across the region that he immediately signed up to help.
 

So, stay tuned because DMC will be coming back to the islands to work with the team and the Sandals Foundation. He’ll be giving benefit concerts and donating his talent, time and financial resources to aid the children of the Caribbean. Together DMC and the Sandals Foundation can really make a difference for so many young people. I’m totally psyched and can’t wait to get started!

DMC and I strike a pose. A larger-than-life musical icon and me—what a rush!

DMC looks on with a smile as DJ Immortal from the Scratch DJ Academy works the turntable and Shock from the Electric Company rules the mic in an intimate performance for the local Turks and Caicos kids.

DMC and Shock, from The Electric Company, hang out with some lucky Turks and Caicos youngsters in front of a cool mural of Bob Marley in our very own, Trench Town.

DMC raps for the island kids in the Scratch DJ Academy, with DJ Immortal spinning by his side.

DMC rocks the house.

Two very talented guys strut their stuff—Joey Fatone joins DMC onstage and together they heat things up!

A priceless moment, as DMC interacts with one of his littlest fans. You can really see his strong connection to the kids.