Bonnie McKee to Appear on ``American Dreams''; Acclaimed Newcomer to Portray Janis Joplin in TV Performing Debut.

Entertainment Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2004

Bonnie McKee, the provocative young vocalist and songwriter whose Reprise Records debut, Trouble, set for release May 2004, will portray legendary Sixties singer Janis Joplin on an upcoming episode of NBC's critically-acclaimed dramatic series, "American Dreams" on Sunday, March 7 (8-9 p.m. ET).

McKee was not only chosen to perform a rendition of Joplin's signature 1966 song, "Summertime," but will also make her national broadcast acting debut in a speaking role as the pioneering female rocker. To be hand picked to portray Janis Joplin was an honor, especially given that the show could have chosen from a pool of established talent. Says Executive Producer Jonathan Prince, "The icon that is Janis Joplin -- how do you find someone to make an impact? And not as the Janis whom the world met in the late 60's, but a Janis who was still finding her voice in 1965? You take a chance on someone new, someone who feels it in her bones and who sings it as well as you could ever have imagined. And then you realize you didn't take a chance at all. You found a sure thing. Bonnie."

Bonnie is a truly gifted nineteen year-old singer and songwriter whose new Reprise Records release, Trouble, produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day, L7, Jawbreaker, The Muffs, Alanis Morissette) and Bob Power (Meshell NdegeOcello, Rhian Benson, The Roots), features a dozen originals tracks, all written by the artist before she was sixteen. "Part ultra-depressed poetry girl, part Lolita and self-described 'attention whore' McKee has one of the most provocative new records, and the personality to match." (Blender Magazine)

"American Dreams," which won two Emmy Awards in its freshman season

last year, is set against the memorable sounds of the 1960s as it depicts the American landscape seen through the youthful Pryor family of Philadelphia as they brace for cultural turbulence that still resonates in the contemporary era. "American Dreams" is from NBC Studios and Universal Television, with Dick Clark and Jonathan Prince serving as Executive Producers.