Sara Bareilles and Cyndi Lauper Create Mash-up Song For Hoda Kotb’s ‘Shine a Light TODAY’ Campaign

NEW YORK – September 23, 2014 – As part of TODAY’s “Shine a Light” campaign, Hoda Kotb brought together two superstars to create one special song. Music icons Sara Bareilles and Cyndi Lauper teamed up to produce a masterful mash-up song titled “Truly Brave” to raise awareness for pediatric cancer.  The song and music video, which was shot at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, will debut Thursday, September 25 on NBC’s TODAY.

“Truly Brave” combines two of Kotb’s favorite songs – Lauper’s mega-hit “True Colors” and Bareilles’ chart-topper “Brave.”  The mash-up benefits the American Cancer Society, specifically pediatric cancer research.  On Wednesday, September 24, TODAY will give a sneak peek at the making of the song and video.

At the beginning of the year, TODAY unveiled a new outreach project “Shine a Light,” a year-long initiative focused on service and giving back to communities in need. Each TODAY show anchor and host chose a worthy cause to support throughout the year.

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NBC’s TODAY is the news program that informs, entertains, inspires and sets the agenda each morning for Americans. Airing live from 7 am to 11 am ET, TODAY reaches more than 5 million people every day through its broadcast, and millions more through TODAY.com, the TODAY app, and social media platforms. Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, Willie Geist, Tamron Hall, Carson Daly, Hoda Kotb, and Kathie Lee Gifford are the anchors and hosts, Jamie Horowitz is the SVP and general manager, and Don Nash is the executive producer.  Robin Sindler is the supervising producer of TODAY’s “Shine a Light” series.