(LOS ANGELES, CA) — Tonight, Friday, July 18, 77-year-old Mississippi blues legend Bobby Rush will make his late-night TV debut tonight on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC). Rush will join Blues Brothers originator Dan Aykroyd to perform a classic James Brown song.
According to Rush, “It’s a triple whammy, to be on the Tonight Show, involved with the James Brown movie, and to be performing on the show with Dan Aykroyd. I can’t even dream of this happening to me.
“I can sum it up by saying, this is the best thing to ever to happen to me in my life. It made me young again, It brought things out of me when I was a child when I met James Brown when we were 22 or 23 years old. To have Dan Aykroyd think of me as a friend and fan and invite me is a real blessing. I have always wanted to be on the Tonight Show and this is a dream in my life. It’s like I’ve been baptized like the father, son and the holy ghost.”
The Blues Music Hall of Fame inductee, whose hit “Chicken Heads” in 1971 earned him a gold certified record for selling over one million copies, continues his late-career emergence from the chitlin’ circuit underground to music mainstream. He is enjoying perhaps the biggest successes of his career with last year’’s GRAMMY-nominated record Down in Louisiana and having been featured in the “Road to Memphis” segment of the Martin Scorsese’s documentary The Blues.
Rush’s current release Decisions, backed by funk band Blinddog Smokin’, wais featured in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and PopMatters, which called Rush’s recent video collaboration with Dr. John “compelling,” and describes Rush as “one of the rarest characters in American music culture. ”
New dates at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles and BAM’s R&B Festival have been added to Bobby Rush’s summer tour.
Bobby Rush Official Website
BOBBY RUSH on tour
Tue., July 22 WASHINGTON,. DC The Hamilton
Thurs., July 24 BROOKLYN, NY BAM R&B Festival
Sun., July 27 JAPAN Fuji Rock Festival
(w/ Kanye West, Jack Johnson, Franz Ferdinand)
Thurs., Aug. 7 PHOENIX, AZ The Rhythm Room
Fri., Aug. 8 SACRAMENTO, CA Lions Gate Hotel
Sat., Aug. 9 INGLEWOOD, CA Hollywood Park Casino
Mon., Aug. 11 LOS ANGELES, CA The Grammy Museum
Thurs., Aug. 14 TUPELO, MS Fairpark Ampitheater
Sat. Aug. 16 JACKSON, MS Jackson Mississippi Jazz & Blues Festival
Thurs., Sept. 11 NEW ORLEANS, LA (Crimestoppers Fundraiser)
Fri. Sept 12 PONTIAC, MI Pontiac Auditorium
Sat., Sept. 13 JACKSON, MI UAW Hall
Sat., Sept. 19 CHICAGO, IL Argo Bingo Hall
Sun., Sept. 20 GREENVILLE, MS Delta Blues Festival
Fri., Oct. 10 HELENA, AR King Biscuit Blues Festival
Sun., Oct. 19 NEW ORLEANS, LA Crescent City Blues Festival – Lafayette Square Park
Sat., Oct. 25 MONMOUTH, IL Deep Blue Innovators Blues Festival – The Rivoli Theatre
