Larry Mestel Receives City of Hope's Spirit of Life Award
Larry Mestel, founder and chief executive of the music company Primary Wave, received City of Hope's Spirit of Life Award on Tuesday, 27 October, at a gala in West Hollywood. Mestel confirmed that the evening raised millions of dollars for the cancer research and treatment centre.
The event was City of Hope's Music, Film and Entertainment Industry Gala, held at the Pacific Design Center. It closed a 2026 fundraising campaign that Mestel led. City of Hope named him as this year's honoree in April, and Primary Wave said in June that Melissa Etheridge, Stevie Nicks and Jackson Browne would perform. All three did. Music Business Worldwide reported that the streaming service TikTok sponsored the gala, its first involvement with the event.
The money is designated for specific work. Funds will support City of Hope's research and care in CAR T cell therapy, a treatment that takes a patient's own immune cells, adjusts them in a laboratory so they can target cancer, and returns them to the body. The gift will also go to other cellular immunotherapies, which use the body's immune cells to fight disease, and to breast cancer research and care.
Primary Wave is a company that buys the rights to existing songs and the royalties they earn. Its MFEI Group, which works with the music, film and entertainment industries, launched a campaign called "More Than Words" with the events company Fandiem on 1 October to support the 2026 drive. The gala was the final event of that campaign.
For the people who attended, the evening was built around the performers and the honour. For City of Hope, the figure that matters is the one Mestel confirmed, and what it will pay for: the lab work, clinical care and research that the centre says it will fund.
