GRAMMY AWARD WINNER LIL WAYNE, GRAMMY NOMINEE NICKI MINAJ AND MUSICAL GROUP MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE TO PERFORM DURING “NBC’S NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH CARSON DALY” ON DECEMBER 31

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — December 13, 2010 — Grammy Award-winner Lil Wayne, Grammy nominee Nicki Minaj and Reprise Records rock band My Chemical Romance will help ring in 2011 on “NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly.”  Additionally, U2’s Bono and The Edge talk with Daly about writing the score and lyrics for the new Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” during the holiday special.

The two-hour special will air live on Friday, December 31, beginning in primetime from 10-11 p.m. (ET), and continuing from 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (ET) with the countdown to 2011 and the first performances of the New Year.  “NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” will broadcast in high definition from the middle of the world’s most famous New Year’s Eve destination — Times Square in New York City.

Beginning at 11:30 p.m. (ET), CNBC will join in the countdown festivities by simultaneously airing the New Year’s Eve special.  “Today” correspondents Natalie Morales and Amy Robach will also be returning to help Daly’s coverage of the celebration with live reports from the heart of Times Square with nearly one million spectators.

“With performances from Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and My Chemical Romance, this will truly be an energetic and celebratory night,” said Daly.

“Sitting down and drinking champagne with Bono and The Edge is on my ‘bucket list’ – so getting to do that is awesome!”

In September 2010, Lil Wayne released the new album “I Am Not a Human Being.”  A game-changing artist, Lil Wayne released the album “Tha Carter 3” in 2008 and sold one million records in its first week.  It was the biggest selling album of 2008 and his follow up album, “Tha Carter 4,” is expected out in 2011.

Minaj’s debut album “Pink Friday” was released on November 19, selling 375,000 albums in the first week, the most for a female hip hop artist since Lauryn Hill in 1998.  Last October, Minaj became the first artist to have seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously.  Minaj is also the first female artist to top the Rap Songs chart unaccompanied since 2002.  The Trinidad native currently has nearly 1.9 million twitter followers and a documentary on her quick rise entitled “My Time Now” recently premiered on MTV.

My Chemical Romance, a New Jersey band, released its fourth studio album, “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys,” on November 22.  Their new album debuted in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 Album chart.

World-renowned musicians Bono and The Edge talk about writing the music and lyrics for “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” on Broadway starring Reeve Carney as Peter Park/Spider-man.  The show opens January 11, 2011.

In 2009, 9.3 million viewers tuned in to watch “NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly.”  The annual special, which premiered in 2004, delivered its fifth-straight year of gains and scored its biggest ratings results to date.

“NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” is executive-produced by Daly (“Last Call with Carson Daly”) and Alex Coletti through Universal Media Studios.  Guy Oseary (“Last Call with Carson Daly”) is co-executive producer.