They’ve got a lot of interesting shows at the Seaside Concert Series (across the street from the Coney Island Aquarium) this summer.
On July 22nd, it’s The Beach Boys live with something called the Happy Together – 25th anniversary tour, including elements from the following bands: The Monkees, The Turtles, & Paul Revere and the Raiders.
As previously mentioned here, Aretha Franklin (August 12) will grace the Seaside stage, as well as the stage at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert series in Wingate Park (August 9th). For the oldies crowd: there’s Neil Sedaka, Brenda Lee (July 15), and for blues aficionados there’s George Thorogood and the Destroyers.
Of interest to many will be John Legend’s show on August 5th at Seaside. Here’s some info at this acclaimed performer:
American pop/soul singer-songwriter-performer-social activist John Legend was still attending the University of Pennsylvania when Lauryn Hill invited him to play piano on “Everything is Everything,” from her Grammy-winning solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. John quickly established a reputation as an in-demand session player, adding his distinctive vocal and/or piano stylings to recordings by Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Kanye West (who signed Legend to his R&B/hip-hop label) and others.
Released on his 26th birthday (December 28 2004), John Legend’s debut album, Get Lifted, rocketed to #4 on the Billboard Top 200 and became America’s #1 Top R&B/Hip-Hop album in January 2005. A critical and commercial triumph, Get Lifted earned John an astounding eight Grammy nominations — he won Best New Artist, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (“Ordinary People”) and Best R&B album — while selling more than three million copies worldwide.
John’s second collection, Once Again, entered the Billboard Top 200 at #3 shortly after its release in October 2006, peaking at #1 on the R&B Album Sales chart. The album earned an RIAA platinum certification while securing two Grammy nominations: “Save Room” (for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance) and “Heaven” (which won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance).
John racked up his fifth overall career Grammy win in 2006 when “Family Affair” — a track he’d cut with Joss Stone and Van Hunt for Different Strokes by Different Folks, a Sly & the Family Stone tribute album — took home top honors in the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals category. In 2009, he won his sixth Grammy — in the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals category — for the single “Stay With Me (By the Sea)” by Al Green featuring John Legend.