On July 20 in Portland, Oregon, Pearl Jam held a benefit concert for the Northwest Chapter of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) to raise awareness for a disease no one likes to discuss. Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis twenty years ago and has gone public with what he personally felt for many years was an embarrassing disease.

McCready, a spokesperson for the NW Chapter of CCFA, said, "Having struggled with Crohn's disease for more than 20 years and experienced first hand difficulties in getting a diagnosis and treatment, I want to help others learn about the disease, how it is affecting them and how to find ways to cope."

UCB, a leading global biopharmaceutical company that recently launched Crohns and Me, an information and resource website for people with Crohn's disease, joined with CCFA, in sponsoring the Pearl Jam Portland benefit concert.

"A composer is a guy who goes around forcing his will on unsuspecting air molecules, often with the assistance of unsuspecting musicians." -- Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa -- intelligent and articulate; gifted and prolific as a rock musician and composer; guitarist, singer/songwriter, film director, and satirist -- lost his life to prostate cancer in 1993. During his musical career, he gained a cult-like following of fans by pushing the iconoclastic envelope and by mastering the technology needed to create his complex musical compositions.

One of Frank's sons, Dweezil Zappa, wants to set the record straight about his father. According to Dweezil, "There are so many things that are misunderstood or not recognized about my father's music because they've been filtered by people who work for magazines like Rolling Stone.

For example, Rolling Stone recently printed a poor, artist-rendering of Frank holding a joint.

Frank has always been well-known for being anti-drug yet they would rather continue to perpetuate a false image of him, even after death. It's irresponsible, it's obnoxious and offensive. I think it's time people know what Frank was really about, and they should discover it through his music."

To that end, Dweezil, with his brother Ahmet, are touring Zappa Plays Zappa and introducing a whole new generation to Frank Zappa's music. You can follow the tour at the Zappa Plays Zappa blog.

Some days are just better than other days -- and good deeds can make it a better day. Earlier this month, I shared a story with you about Brian Mammen, an 18 year-old who has been battling cancer for the last three years and is having a tough time right now. I told you that Brian is a young man with dreams -- things he would like to do. Helping Heroes Productions had been contacting the media and community friends in the hopes that someone could help make his ultimate dream of playing guitar with Van Halen's legendary bass guitarist Michael Anthony a reality.

Dreams come true if they involve people with big hearts. Michael Anthony came to see Brian at Brian's family home and spent the day with him, playing guitar, sharing music, laughter and stories. As Brian's grandmother tearfully watched as Brian lived his dream, she is quoted as saying, "It is times like this that cause people to reach out and really touch each other, and it makes me feel so wonderful."

"I've been blessed with great kids and career, and if I can give anything back I am glad to do it," Anthony said. In addition to spending an hour jamming with Brian, Anthony gave him a signature guitar strap, CD, and specialized Van Halen picks -- and a signed bass guitar. Hats off to Anthony! Who rocks as much as a successful musician as he does as a compassionate human being.

From the beginning, I was a fan of the music of Jamaican singer, guitarist, songwriter and activist Bob Marley. Once while playing a game of Trivial Pursuit with a group of brainiacs -- that I was sure I was going to lose -- I won because of Bob Marley. So, it was a sad day when the news came that Marley, only 36, had died of cancer. In 1977, Marley found a wound on his right toe. He thought it was a sports injury, but it was melanoma under the toe nail. He refused to have his toe amputated because of his Rastafarian beliefs that the body must be whole. In time, the cancer spread to Marley's brain, lungs, liver, and stomach. Marley finally did seek medical help, and went to Munich in order to receive treatment from cancer specialist Josef Issels, but the cancer had already progressed to the terminal stage. Marley lost his life to cancer in May 1981. He died without a will.

Recently, and over twenty years after Marley's death, Marley's bass player Aston Barrett, attempted to sue Island Records and the Marley family for 60 million pounds stating he did not receive royalties and songwriting credits. Last Monday the suit was dismissed. But not before Barrett had a chance to malign the late Marley as nothing more than someone good at playing sports -- not the music that gained him worldwide popularity.

"We always felt this would be the outcome, and it was hard to listen to Aston Barrett reduce his friend Bob to someone who was more interested in playing football than making music," the family said in a statement. Now, Barrett will be liable for court costs and forced to sell two properties in Jamaica as a result of the ruling. Greed will get you, one way or the other. I was happy to hear the ruling went the way it did.

Winners lose, - heroes cry
Wise men listen, - let sleeping dogs lie
The same is easy, - it's hard to change
Although the parts are there, - just rearranged

When things get old and lose there salt
And it's time to go,
ain't no one's fault
It's hard to let go,
harder to remain. -- Romancing the moon lyrics

Michael Troy, guitarist, singer and songwriter, is a two-time Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer survivor whose music reflects the lives of New England's hard-working common folk. In 1998, he was diagnosed with cancer, and then again with a recurrence seven years later. After chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant by stem cell replacement, he is again cancer-free.

According to those who have met him, or have listened him perform live, Troy is a magical storyteller with a gift for melody, a deep rich voice, excellent finger-pickin' skills and the ability to compose outstanding stanzas of substance. I discovered Troy while visiting Art of Survivorship, a place to discover phenomenally talented artists and musicians -- who also happen to be cancer survivors. My father, who was a musician and world traveler, once told me that music is a universal language that allowed him to be anywhere in the world and find a common connection with the people there through music. Music does seem to speak to a deeper part of who we are, and allows us to join others who are on healing paths.

In 1998, Barenaked Ladies keyboardist and guitarist Kevin Hearn started to have pains and experienced rapid weight loss. At the time, the band was working on their next studio album Stunt. As soon as it was finished, Hearn went in for a medical checkup and was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. While Hearn underwent a bone marrow transplant, the band was forced to go on without him on tour to promote the new album. Cancer treatments and transplant required that Hearn spend time in an isolation room. During that time, he began writing what became the album H-Wing, named after the hospital wing, H-Wing of the Princess Margaret Hospital, where he spent so much of his time fighting cancer. Reviewers describe this album as, "a testament to the strength of the human spirit, transcending desperate situations, and dealing with one's mortality. The songs are filled with hope, fear, love, confusion, gratitude, sadness, and perhaps most importantly, a sense of humor."

Today, Hearn is cancer-free and back with Barenaked Ladies. Hearn has moved on but has not forgotten the cancer research and cancer community that made it possible for his life today. He is the honorary spokesperson for the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control. Hearn and Barenaked Ladies band members play charity shows and participate in cancer fundraisers. In addition to touring and recording music with both Barenaked Ladies, and his solo band from H-Wing, Thin Buckle, he has been composing music for Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, a children's television show. In the heart of a cancer survivor is profound gratitude -- for all the little discoveries that were made, and for all the people who worked diligently to make them -- that led to the better treatments, that allowed for another day of life. Giving back is a given.