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Pop legends play Ravinia for first time
Glen Campbell
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Updated: March 9, 2012 4:50PM
Several iconic pop artists make their Ravinia debuts this summer.
However, they can’t be mentioned without a nod to Glen Campbell, who crossed over early in his career.
Country legend Campbell, the Grammy Award-winning Rhinestone Cowboy, will perform June 28 as part of his Goodbye Tour. Opening for him is another legend, Ronnie Milsap. As the name implies, this is Campbell’s last tour; he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease last year, but he wanted to tour as
long as he was able. This tour is
also in support of his most recent album, “Ghost on the Canvas,” which was also released last summer. Campbell’s hits, starting in the late 1960s, include “Gentle on My Mind,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Wichita Lineman,” and “Rhinestone Cowboy.” In 1964 and ’65, he filled
in for Brian Wilson in The Beach Boys and he appeared in a handful of movies, including “True Grit” with John Wayne in 1969 and “Any Which Way You Can” with Clint Eastwood in 1980. Campbell’s children, also musicians, have joined him on this tour.
Santana, led by guitarist Carlos Santana, is making its first ever appearance at Ravinia July 9. Santana, another legendary act that got started in the late 1960s, combines Latin grooves with rock. Their best known hits, “Oye Como Va,” written by Tito Puente, and “Black Magic Woman,” off the album “Abraxas,” were huge successes in 1970 and put the group on the map. In the late 1990s, the multi Grammy Award-winning guitarist and his band, scored two more hits, this time on the album “Supernatural.” “Smooth” was sung by Rob Thomas of the band Matchbox 20, and “Maria Maria,” sung by The Product G&B. “Supernatural” went on to become Santana’s best-selling album. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine placed Carlos Santana at number 15 on its list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
The unmistakable voice of the 1970s British progressive rock band Supertramp, Roger Hodgson, comes to Ravinia Festival for the first time on Aug. 23, on the Breakfast in America tour. Hodgson wrote, composed and sang on Supertramp’s biggest hits, which include “Give a Little Bit,” “Dreamer,” “The Logical Song,” “Take the Long Way Home,” and “Breakfast in America.” Supertramp sold more than 60 million records with Hodgson at the helm. Hodgson left the band in 1983 and released four solo albums. The song “Breakfast in America” showed up back on the charts when American band Gym Class Heroes covered it in 2006. Another American band, the Goo Goo Dolls, covered “Give a Little Bit” in 2005.
Duran Duran, who helped make MTV as popular as it was when the network played music videos in the 1980s and whose images adorned millions of teenage girls’ bedroom walls, will make a tour stop at Ravinia on Aug. 29. Their new album, “All You Need is Now,” is expected to be released March 22. The British New Wave band rose to stardom in the early 1980s with songs such as “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Rio,” and “The Reflex,” and the music videos that accompanied them. The band consists of four of the original five members — Simon LeBon on vocals, Nick Rhodes on keyboards, John Taylor on bass, and Roger Taylor on drums. Guitarist Andy Taylor left the band in 2006 and was replaced by Dominic Brown. This will be Duran Duran’s first time playing Ravinia Festival.
Other pop artists making their Ravinia debut include Sarah McLachlan (June 30), Natalie Merchant (July 10), and Seal (July 22).
