Rock the Kasbah is an annual gala fundraiser co-hosted by Sir Richard Branson and his mother Eve Branson. Funds raised go to Richard Branson's Virgin Unite

Virgin Unite

Virgin Unite is the working name of The Virgin Foundation, the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group. Created by Richard Branson and Virgin employees in September 2004, Virgin Unite pools volunteering efforts from across the Virgin Group and its hundreds of subsidiaries and associated...

 foundation and also to The Eve Branson Foundation.

The first Rock the Kasbah event was held on July 2, 2007 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a historic Spanish-style hotel located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Named after Theodore Roosevelt and financed by a group including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Louis B. Mayer, it first opened its doors on May 15, 1927...

 in Los Angeles, California. Richard Branson attended the event in formal Moroccan wear and arrived at the event by way of horseback. Branson described the first Rock the Kasbah event as “one of the best parties I’ve ever been to” and musical guest Jewel

Jewel (singer)

Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...

 performed. Funds raised at this event, via ticket sales and live and silent auctions, went to help build schools in the Atlas Mountains

Atlas Mountains

The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a northern stretch of Africa extending about through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert...

 of Morocco, as well as three villages near Kasbah Tamadot. Celebrity guests included Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin

Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...

 and Rachel Hunter

Rachel Hunter

Rachel Hunter is a New Zealand born American model, actress and reality TV show host who now resides in the U.S. She is best known for her appearance in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues and her longtime marriage to singer Rod Stewart, which ended in 2006...

.

The 2008 Rock the Kasbah event was also held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on October 23 in Los Angeles, California. Celebrity guests at that year’s gala included Salma Hayek

Salma Hayek

Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault is a Mexican film actress, director and producer. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as Frida Kahlo in the film Frida.-Early life:...

 and Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...

. While at the event, Theron said that Richard Branson “is an incredibly compassionate human being and is coming up with really innovative ways, under this umbrella of this foundation that he has, to really give back.” Also in attendance were Neve Campbell

Neve Campbell

Neve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. After beginning her career on stage, and on numerous commercials, she starred on the Canadian television series Catwalk. She then rose to international fame on the Golden Globe-winning 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of teenager...

 and Natalie Imbruglia

Natalie Imbruglia

Natalie Jane Imbruglia is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress. In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Brennan in the popular Australian soap Neighbours. Three years after leaving the programme, Imbruglia launched a singing career with the international hit,...

. Richard Branson was unable to attend the 2008 event due to being at sea in an attempt to set a transatlantic sailing record.

In 2009, Rock the Kasbah was held at Vibiana on October 26 in Los Angeles, California, with a mix of Moroccan and Hollywood theme. Gavin Rossdale

Gavin Rossdale

Gavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush as well as an actor. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, he was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and later began a solo career. He...

 performed and some of the celebrities in attendance were Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul

Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...

, Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...

, Sharon Stone

Sharon Stone

Sharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...

, and Estelle

Estelle (musician)

Estelle Fanta Swaray commonly known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is an English R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer.-Early Life:Estelle was born 18 January 1980 in Hammersmith, London, England...

.

The 2010 event took place on November 11 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center . The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.The Pavilion has 3,197 seats spread over four tiers, with chandeliers, wide curving stairways and rich décor...

 in Los Angeles, California, with the goal to raise at minimum $500,000. At the event, Colbie Caillat

Colbie Caillat

Colbie Marie Caillat is an American pop singer-songwriter and guitarist from Malibu, California. She debuted in 2007 with Coco, which included hit singles "Bubbly", "Realize", and "The Little Things". In 2008, she recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, "Lucky", which won a Grammy. Caillat released her...

 and Common performed together on stage. Sam Branson, son of Richard Branson, also performed at the event with his band Delilah. Items up for auction included a 7-night stay on Branson’s own Necker Island

Necker Island (British Virgin Islands)

Necker Island is a small island in the British Virgin Islands just north of Virgin Gorda, located at . All of the land on the island is owned by Sir Richard Branson, famous for his Virgin brand, and it is part of the Virgin Limited Edition portfolio of luxury properties...

, and a Triumph Daytona 675

Triumph Daytona 675

Introduced in 2006, the Triumph Daytona 675 is a 600 class sport bike motorcycle built by Triumph Motorcycles to replace the Daytona 650.The 2008 model has a tested dry weight of and wet weight of...

 World Supersport motorcycle. Celebrity guests included Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...

, Justin Long

Justin Long

Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...

, and musician Yoshiki.

The fifth annual Rock the Kasbah event is scheduled for November 16, 2011 and will be held at Boulevard3 in Los Angeles, California. On 1 November 2011, a full-page ad on the back cover of Daily Variety magazine listed the names of the performers playing at the 2011 Rock the Kasbah event, including O.A.R.

O.A.R.

O.A.R. is an American rock band composed of Marc Roberge , Chris Culos , Richard On , Benj Gershman , and Jerry DePizzo...

 and The Pussycat Dolls. It also featured over 50 logos of the apparent partners in this event, including Virgin America

Virgin America

Virgin America, Inc. is a United States-based low-cost airline that began service on August 8, 2007. The airline's stated aim is to provide low-fare, high-quality service for "long-haul point-to-point service between major metropolitan cities on the Eastern and West Coast seaboards." San Francisco...

, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...

, Livestream

Livestream

Livestream, formerly known as Mogulus, is a live streaming video platform that allows users to view and broadcast video content using a camera and a computer through the internet...

, Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co. is an American jewelry and silverware company. As part of its branding, the company is strongly associated with its Tiffany Blue , which is a registered trademark.- History :...

, Harry Winston

Harry Winston

Harry Winston was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade, and traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963.-History:...

, Gilt, Charitybuzz, and many others. It noted that the performance would be broadcast live (apparently for the first time) on Livestream.com, an internet streaming channel.