Comedy legend Bill Cosby and Grammy winner Toni Braxton headlined a sold-out concert that raised $1,450,000 for autism research, awareness and advocacy. The Concert for Autism Speaks, held April 9, 2007 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, featured a stand-up routine by Cosby and a musical performance by Autism Speaks celebrity spokesperson Braxton. The funds raised from the event will help fund research grants to investigate the causes,

including environmental, of this devastating neurobiological disorder.

The program was emceed by NBC News' Tom Brokaw, and drew celebrities including actors Matthew Broderick, Joe Pantoliano and Shia LaBeouf, star of DreamWorks SKG's Disturbia; comedian and 2005 Concert for Autism Speaks headliner Jerry Seinfeld; Today Show weatherman Al Roker; Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels as well as current and past cast members Rachel Dratch, Bill Hader, Seth Myers, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson and Kristen Wiig; and NBC's 30 Rock cast members Lonny Ross, Katrina Bowden and Jane Krakowski. More than 1,000 people were in attendance.

The concert, the first held by Autism Speaks in New York, was the organization's third such performance-fundraiser. A Los Angeles concert with comedian Jerry Seinfeld helped raise $1.8 million in September 2005 (photo gallery), and a Las Vegas concert with The Tonight Show's Jay Leno brought in nearly $1 million in October 2006 (read more).

Highlights of the evening's performances included a duet between Braxton and Michael McDonald who joined voices on “Stop, Look & Listen,” and a performance by saxophonist Walter Brandling, Jr., a guest of Bill Cosby, who performed in tribute to families struggling with autism.

In remarks at this event, Suzanne Wright, Autism Speaks co-founder and event co-chair, emphasized the escalating urgency for research and awareness, citing the increasing incidence rates of autism. “From 1992, the year the U.S. government began collecting data, through 2003, the number of American children with autism skyrocketed a staggering 800 percent. Today, autism affects 1 in 150 children, and a shocking 1 in 94 boys. By the end of this concert, six more families will receive the devastating news that their child has autism.”

Addressing the need for increased research, Bob Wright, Autism Speaks co-founder and event co-chair, noted: “They say you can't hurry science. I say we have no choice. We must move as quickly as we can, because more and more children are being diagnosed every day, more and more parents are left with no answers, and more and more families face financial ruin as they desperately turn wherever they can seeking help – help which is usually not covered by insurance. Finding the answers will take a commitment far beyond what we've seen to date. We need to turn up the heat and keep it turned on.”