Ravinia 2025 Issue 2

PAVILION 7:00 PM SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2025 AL GREEN with special guest THE O’JAYS featuring WALTER WILLIAMS The O’Jays featuring Walter Williams –Intermission– Al Green THE O’JAYS After more than 60 years electrifying people all over the world, the mighty, legendary, R&B and soul kings The O’Jays are on their final tour, fea- turing original members Eddie Levert Sr. and Walter Williams Sr., who have been singing to- gether since they were kids. The O’Jays are living musical and touring history, a connection to an era and a sound that formed the soundtrack for the lives of several generations. In 1972, Gamble & Huff, a team of producers and songwriters with whom the O’Jays had been working for sever- al years, signed the group to their Philadelphia International label. With this magic formula, often called The Sound of Philadelphia, The O’Jays scored their first number-one hit and mil- lion-selling song, “Backstabbers,” followed by more chart-topping pop and R&B singles, including “Love Train,” “Put Your Hands Together,” “For the Love of Money,” “I Love Music,” “Darlin’ Darlin’ Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love),” “Livin’ For The Weekend,” and “Use Ta Be My Girl.” This success pro- pelled The O’Jays to be the first Black vocal group to perform in arenas throughout America during the ’70s and ’80s. Eddie Levert Sr., Walter Williams Sr., and Eric Nolan Grant, who joined the group in 1995, continue to thrill fans today. Throughout their career The O’Jays have achieved 10 gold albums, 9 platinum albums, and 10 number-one hits. The O’Jays were inducted into both the Vocal Group and the Rock and Roll Halls of Fame in 2005, and they were honored with BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. In 2013, they were inducted into The Official R&B Music Hall of Fame. The O’Jays first performed at Ravinia in 2015 and are making their second appearance at the festival. AL GREEN Al Green, born on April 13, 1946, has released more than two dozen studio albums. After fo- cusing on R&B songs over the first decade of his career—across such chart-topping albums as 1972’s Let’s Stay Together and I’m Still in Love with You , 1973’s Call Me and Livin’ For You , and 1974’s Al Green Explores Your Mind —Green turned to gospel with a series of recordings in the 1980s, starting with The Lord Will Make a Way , that collectively earned him eight Gram- my Awards in gospel categories. His duet with Annie Lennox, “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” for the 1988 film Scrooged , marked his return to R&B and his first top-10 hit in over a decade. His 1994 duet with country music singer Lyle Lovett blended country with R&B and garnered Green his ninth Grammy, this time in the pop music category. In 2001 Green’s live cover of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” was released on the soundtrack of the film Ali , fea- turingWill Smith. His 2008 album, Lay It Down , released on Blue Note Records, featured collab- oration between Green and The Roots’ Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. The album also includ- ed tracks featuring John Legend, Corinne Bai- ley Rae, and Anthony Hamilton. Looking back on the creation of the album, Green comment- ed, “I couldn’t ask for more than what Corinne, Anthony, and John put into the album, because they came and they sang their heart. And when a person does that, I’m going to give you the best I feel, too.” In 1995 Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, then in 2004 he entered into both the Gospel Music and the Songwriters Halls of Fame and was named among the 100 greatest artists of all time by Rolling Stone . Green has also received lifetime achievement awards from BET (2009) and the Grammys (2002), which have also inducted his songs “Let’s Stay Together” and “Take Me To the River” into its Hall of Fame. Finally, in 2014, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. Al Green made his Ravinia debut in 2012 and tonight is his first return to the festival. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JUNE 16 – JUNE 29, 2025 76 DAVIDRACCUGLIA(GREEN)