Special guests join the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra for soulful celebration of black cinema classics

Wednesday, August 31, 2016, at 8PM

Produced in cooperation with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

WHAT:

Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Gladys Knight and Lalah Hathaway have been added as special guests for The Academy Celebrates The Black Movie Soundtrack II at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday, August 31, at 8PM.

Back by popular demand, Grammy-winning musician Marcus Miller and acclaimed producer/director Reginald Hudlin reprise the Hollywood Bowl's 2014 celebration of classic music from black cinema. The 2016 edition will feature new clips and music, as well as some favorites from the original show. The evening will once again be hosted by actor and comedian Craig Robinson. Special guests, including the previously announced Common, Philip Bailey, Verdine White,and Ralph Johnson of Earth, Wind & Fire, Full Force, Alice Smith and Charlie Willson, will perform with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra led by Vince Mendoza. 

Back by popular demand, Grammy-winning musician Marcus Miller and acclaimed producer/director Reginald Hudlin reprise the Hollywood Bowl's 2014 celebration of classic music from black cinema. The 2016 edition will feature new clips and music, as well as some favorites from the original show. The evening will once again be hosted by actor and comedian Craig Robinson. Special guests, including the previously announced Common, Philip Bailey, Verdine White,and Ralph Johnson of Earth, Wind & Fire, Full Force, Alice Smith and Charlie Willson, will perform with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra led by Vince Mendoza. 

Music has always come first for Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. It's the backbone of an award-winning, multi-faceted pop/urban career that includes the consecutive multi-platinum landmark albums Tender Lover, For the Cool in You (including such signature hits as Never Keeping Secrets and When Can I See You) and The Day (Every Time I Close My Eyes). As co-founder with L.A. Reid of LaFace Records in 1989, Babyface nurtured the careers of such megastars as TLC, OutKast, Usher and Toni Braxton. Paralleling those achievements are Babyface's extensive songwriting and production credits from the '90s forward. He has produced and written/co-written hits for everyone from Whitney Houston, Eric Clapton and Michael Jackson to Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, P!nk, Beyoncé and Ariana Grande, among countless others. The prolific music man counts more than 125 Top 10 R&B and pop hits, 42 R&B No. 1 hits and 51 Top 10 pop hits (including 16 No. 1's). In turn, those stats have generated cumulative single and album sales of more than 500 million units worldwide. 

The Empress of Soul, seven-time Grammy winner Gladys Knight, has recorded more than 38 albums and scored No. 1 hits in Pop, Gospel, R&B and Adult Contemporary, including Midnight Train To Georgia, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, If I Were Your Woman and Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye). A tireless performer who still wows audiences around the country and the world, Knight also finds the time to make forays into film and television. Most recently, she appeared in the Tyler Perry film I Can Do Bad All By Myself, and in a cameo on the Emmy-winning NBC hit comedy 30 Rock. Knight is also a tireless humanitarian, supporting such organizations as the Boys & Girls Clubs Of America, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Kumasi Women's Cooperative in Ghana. 

Lalah Hathaway is an American vocalist. She is the daughter of soul singer Donny Hathaway and an alumna of Berklee College of Music. In 1990, Lalah Hathaway released her self-titled album. The album's first single was Heaven Knows, produced by Derek Bramble. The follow-up single was Baby Don't Cry was produced by Angela Winbush. In 1991, Hathaway released her extended play, Night & Day in Japan. A Moment was released in 1994, debuting at No. 34 on the Top R&B albums chart. The lead single Let Me Love You charted on the Hot R&B charts at No. 37. In 1999, Lalah Hathaway collaborated with Joe Sample and released her third album The Song Lives On. After a five-year hiatus, Hathaway returned with her fourth album Outrun the Sky. The single Forever, For Always, For Love peaked at No. 1 on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay. In 2007, Hathaway signed to Stax Records and in 2008 released her fifth album Self Portrait. It was released on June 3, 2008 in the United States, debuted at No. 63 on the Billboard's Hot 200 and reached the top ten on the Top R&B albums chart, making this album Hathaway's most successful album to date. She received a Best Female R&B Vocal Performance Grammy nomination for That Was Then. She went on to win the Grammy for Best R&B Performance along with Snarky Puppy for Something in 2014. On February 8, 2015, she won the Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance along with Robert Glasper and Malcolm-Jamal Warner for Jesus Children. She again won the Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance for the cover of her father's 1972 hit Little Ghetto Boy in 2016.

WHEN:

Wednesday, August 31, at 8 PM  

WHO:

The Academy Celebrates The Black Movie Soundtrack II

Common, special guest
Philip Bailey, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson of Earth, Wind & Fire, special guests
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, special guest
Full Force, special guest
Lalah Hathaway, special guest
Gladys Knight, special guest
Alice Smith, special guest
Charlie Wilson, special guest

Marcus Miller, musical director
Craig Robinson, host
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Vince Mendoza, conductor

WHERE:

Hollywood Bowl
2301 N. Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA  90068

TICKETS:

Subscriptions and single tickets for performances during the Hollywood Bowl 2016 summer season are available at HollywoodBowl.com, or via credit card phone order at 323.850.2000, and in person at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office.

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