RICHARD GERE - GERE PENS AIDS SONG WITH RICHIE

RICHARD GERE has co-written a song with LIONEL RICHIE to raise awareness about the spread of AIDS in India.

The PRETTY WOMAN veteran is following in the footsteps of SHARON STONE who helped write new track COME TOGETHER NOW in a bid to raise money for the victims of August's (05) Hurricane Katrina.

The Buddhist actor has pledged to help spread the message about HIV to India's youth via the country's version of POP IDOL and AMERICAN IDOL.

He explains, "We did some stuff with INDIAN IDOL. I asked Lionel Richie if he had a song like WE ARE THE WORLD (BAND AID charity hit), and he did.

"We changed some lyrics and created a song around HIV and responsibility, they (contestants) performed it on the show."