{"id":4534,"date":"2014-08-11T23:30:08","date_gmt":"2014-08-12T04:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=4534"},"modified":"2014-08-12T03:20:21","modified_gmt":"2014-08-12T08:20:21","slug":"chiaverini-sings-to-serve-worthy-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2014\/08\/11\/chiaverini-sings-to-serve-worthy-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiaverini sings to serve worthy cause"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ryan<\/a>

<\/a> Ryan Chiaverini<\/p><\/div>\n

News of Robin Williams\u2019 suicide<\/a> brings an unexpected timeliness \u2014 and even greater sense of urgency \u2014 to the release of Ryan Chiaverini\u2019s new music video Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The host of \u201cWindy City Live\u201d and former sports anchor at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 <\/a>wrote the music and lyrics, recorded the song and stars in the video of \u201cChicago,\u201d<\/a> set to debut on both YouTube<\/a> and iTunes.<\/p>\n

Chiaverini embarked on the ambitious project months ago as a way to shine a spotlight on suicide and raise funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. By sheer coincidence, the video appears just as millions of fans are coming to grips with the self-inflicted death of Chicago-born actor and comedian Williams.<\/p>\n

A link at the end of Chiaverini\u2019s video directs viewers to donate to ChicagoWalk.org,<\/a> which supports Out of the Darkness Chicagoland. In addition, all proceeds from iTunes sales of the song will benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.<\/p>\n

\""Chicago"\"<\/a>

\"Chicago\"<\/p><\/div>\n

Suicide has been a deeply personal concern for Chiaverini since his younger brother Zach took his own life five years ago at age 20. Earlier this year, Chiaverini shared the story for the first time publicly on \u201cWindy City Live.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to give a voice to a cause that doesn\u2019t really have much of a voice,\u201d Chiaverini said. \u201cEven the word 'suicide' makes people cringe. It\u2019s the third leading cause of death for young people 15 to 24, but nobody talks about it. So I decided it was time for me to do something for this cause and give back to this organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

The son of a professional musician, Chiaverini has been singing, playing guitar and writing songs as a hobby for the past decade. But this is the first time he\u2019s ever recorded a song or presented himself as a legitimate rocker. \u201cThis song has special meaning to me because it was the first upbeat, happy song I could write after Zach died,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A labor of love for all concerned, \u201cChicago\u201d was recorded in studio with two former bandmates of \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d winner Lee Dwyze, Mark DeCarlo on harmonica, and recording artist\u00a0Robbie Gold on backup vocals. Celebrity cameos in the video include Ernie Banks, Mark Giangreco, Roe Conn, Richard Roeper, Anthony Adams, Val Warner and April Rose.<\/p>\n

Chiaverini calls it \u201ca fun summer celebration song about our city,\u201d adding: \u201cI really wanted to capture the beauty of Chicago in the summer and I believe we did that.\u201d<\/p>\n