Grammy awards winning R&B icon Patti Labelle as well as reggae crooner Sanchez have both been added to the already impressive lineup for this year’s June 30 concert. The announcement was made by New York-based promoter Christopher Roberts, CEO of New York City’s annual reggae and R & B concert Groovin In The Park.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have superlative icons Miss Labelle and Sanchez on Groovin In The Park this year”, Roberts stated. “Each year we go after the best available talent to satisfy our very demanding New York City music lovers and although this addition has just been made, we are already receiving waves of tremendously positive feedback”, he continued.
The powerful vocals of Patti LaBelle has graced some of the the biggest songs of our time and have shaped the history of R&B. She is credited with selling over 50 million albums and her extraordinary success as a hit machine and a nerve-plucking performer has spanned over five decades. She has won every major award in the music industry including two coveted R & B Grammys. She has been inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At various points she has recorded for nearly every major label, taking time out to enjoy parallel careers in acting as well as being a TV host, an author and a celebrity chef. Her first monster smash was Lady Marmalade (Epic), the French Creole infused 1975 club and radio anthem. Other hits include On My Own, If Only You Knew, New Attitude, Stir It Up and Music Is My Way of Life.
Patti Labelle won’t be a stranger to the Jamaican audiences at the June 30 concert in Roy Wilkins Park in Queens as she has performed and vacationed in Jamaica in the past. The soul Diva last performed on the island at the 2006 Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival where thrilled fans with a long list of timeless classics including ‘On My Own,’ ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me,’ ‘Lady Marmalade,’ ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ and ‘Over the Rainbow.’
The addition of Sanchez on the lineup is creating a big buzz too as this gifted balladeer has molded himself over the years into a powerful reggae brand with a strident following of fans- young and old. Sanchez erupted on the reggae scene at Reggae Sunsplash in 1988 after throwing down a mind-blowing performance there that won him several encores. His iconic single, Lonely Won’t Leave Me Alone, a re-make of a Jermaine Jackson album cut, set Sanchez’ career in motion. It propelled him from sound system street gigs to big budget concert stages. Thereafter, he has never appeared to be short of hits. With some thirty albums under his belt, his vast catalogue includes favorites like Baby Can I Hold You, Never Dis The Man, One In A Million, Let Me Love You Down, Frenzy, A Change Is Gonna Come, Amazing Grace and Old Friends.
Patti Labelle and Sanchez will be joined on stage at ‘Groovin In The Park’ by veteran reggae icon Toots Hibbert, TGT (Tyrese, Genuine, Tank), Barrington Levy, Coco Tea and Queen Ifrica for what promises to be a fun-filled day of premier reggae and rhythm and blues for New York City music lovers at Roy Wilkins Park in Queens.
