THE MIGHTY, MIGHTY O’JAYS ARE BACK FOR SOUL TRAIN CRUISE 2016
The Soul Train Cruise family is humbled – and so very excited – to welcome back the majestic O’Jays, who will be performing on the 2016 voyage. The R&B legends sailed with us on our very first cruise back in 2013 and everyone has been asking for them to come back ever since. Next January, The O’Jays are gonna “Give The People What They Want” and will take the stage aboard the Soul Train Cruise once again.
The O’Jays introduced the sound of Philadelphia soul to the world in the early 1970s, hitting the Top 10 with million-selling singles that we’ve never stopped singing along to including “Back Stabbers,” “Love Train,” “I Love Music,” “Forever Mine,” “Use Ta Be My Girl,” “Give The People What They Want,” “Stairway To Heaven” and “For The Love of Money,” which found a new generation of fans as the theme song to Donald Trump’s reality competition show The Apprentice. Throughout their career, they’ve landed twenty albums in the Top 20 chart, thirteen Top 10 singles and countless gold and platinum albums, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from BET in 2009, and they’ve shared their success with Soul Train audiences every step of the way.
Friends since Walter Williams was 6 and Eddie Levert Sr. was 7, the duo met in their hometown of Canton, Ohio, a surprise to most people who best know them for the Philadelphia soul sound they helped define. By the time they hit their teens, Eddie and Walter had formed their first group and began perfecting a vocal style that would take them to the top of the charts and around the globe several times over. Within their first 10 years, The O’Jays easily scored hits like “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Today)” and “Lonely Drifter.” But it was their partnership with songwriters/producers Gamble & Huff that forever changed the course of history.
One of the first signings to their Philadelphia International record label in the early ‘70s, Gamble & Huff collaborated with The O’Jays on “Back Stabbers” and launched the Philly sound heard ‘round the world. Together, they created more than 30 hit singles and dominated the charts for over a decade.
Back in the early days of their career, The O’Jays found a home on the weekly Soul Train television show. They won a Soul Train Quincy Jones Award for outstanding career achievement and built a very special lifelong friendship with Don Cornelius “Soul Train changed television,” said O’Jays vocalist Eddie Levert. “He (Don Cornelius) brought soul music to a much wider audience through his show.” The group appeared on the iconic program no less than 8 times, with each return visit a “Family Reunion” like no other.
So when it came time for the Soul Train Cruise to sail off on its maiden voyage in 2013, there was absolutely no question that The O’Jays would be aboard. “I can think of no better way to honor the memory of Don Cornelius and show the impact of the legacy he leaves behind,” said Eddie as he prepared to take the stage on the Hippest Trip at Sea.
From the very first studio in Chicago, to Los Angeles and now the Caribbean Sea, The O’Jays have always had a place on the Soul Train stage. “Soul Train keeps getting better, 45 years after the great Don Cornelius introduced it to the world,” said Eddie. As they prepare for their second Soul Train Cruise, he declares, “For everyone who loves R&B, loves a first-class vacation, and loves to have a lot of fun, this is the trip for them – and me!” "We are so excited about returning to the Soul Train Cruise," adds Walter. "We get to see old friends, many of them legends of R&B, and meet our fans up close and personal during our time on the ship. It's like nothing we've ever experienced before.”
Join Eddie and Walter as they share their incredible memories of Soul Train through the years and deliver one of the greatest concerts on the cruise.