Esplanade - Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds

DATE 12 MAR 2010, FRI

TIME 7.30pm

(90mins, no intermission)

PRICE $40* SOLD OUT ,
$60**, $80, $100, $120
Concessions: Limited concessions for students, NSF and senior citizens at $25*, $40** respectively

Early Bird Special for Mosaic Friends
Get 10% savings for full-priced tickets purchased for all the shows in the festival. Offer ends 17 Jan 2010.

Terms and conditions
Each Mosaic Friend is only limited to a maximum of four tickets per show. Please present your Mosaic Friend card when you purchase the tickets at Esplanade Box Office and all SISTIC’s authorised agents. Online booking is available with a password.

To sign up to be a Mosaic Friend, please visit www.mosaicmusicfestival.com Upon sign up, you will receive your Mosaic Friend card in two weeks’ time.

Mosaic Savings
Get 15% savings for a pair of top-priced tickets for any Concert Hall shows. Online booking is available.

Visa Infinite and Visa Signature Card Specials
Use your Visa Infinite or Visa Signature cards to enjoy a complimentary glass of champagne with every ticket purchased for performances at the Concert Hall (except for concession tickets). The champagne is redeemable with your promotion ticket stub at the foyer bars on the day of the performance. Terms & Conditions apply.

SYNOPSIS

“…Fantastic… Babyface put on a show that was fast moving, wistful of old times and great magic songs.” – SoulCulture.co.uk, July 2009

You’ve probably heard his soul ballads on the airwaves, on television and in movies countless times. This March, the 10 Grammy^®-winning pop-R&B superstar and one-man hit machine who has released 11 solo albums and created contemporary R&B-soul mega-hits for Michael Jackson, Mary J. Blige, TLC, Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Boyz II Men, Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston and more will be here to perform at Mosaic. Welcome Kenneth Edmonds, better known as “Babyface”!

Kenny Edmonds was a left-handed, teenaged guitarist in funk megastar Bootsy Collins’ backing unit when he was playfully dubbed “Babyface” by Collins. He joined funk outfit Manchild in the 70s but broke away to form urban funk band The Deele with Antonio “L.A.” Reid.

It was with Reid that Babyface began a successful partnership producing and writing songs for other artists and founded the super-successful label LaFace Records. His distinctive way of fusing the rhythms, samples and production techniques of hip-hop with the urban sound of contemporary pop-R&B made the duo the key producers of the genre. The duo became a hit with 80s-90s megastars, their songs flying to the top of the pop charts, some of them – such as End of the Road for Boyz II Men, Take a Bow for Madonna, and Change the World with Eric Clapton – staying there for unprecedented lengths of time.

Since then, Babyface has created 11 solo albums and hundreds of hits which have produced single and album sales in excess of over 500 million units worldwide for himself and artists including Whitey Houston, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, John Mellencamp, Brandy, Aretha Franklin, Fall Out Boy and Pink, received 10 Grammys and other awards, and become a music icon.

Then in 2007, he took a stylistic break, releasing an album of acoustic originals and covers of 70s soft-rock songs that he loved growing up including James Taylor’s Fire and Rain and Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle. Entitled Playlist, the album reveals a seldom-experienced side to Babyface – just him as Kenneth Edmonds, his dulcet voice and his guitar.

This March, catch your breath as this music legend opens Mosaic Music Festival 2010 with the smooth, sweet sound of contemporary R&B-soul jams and the stripped-down lyricism of acoustic soft-rock covers and new originals.

Back To Listings