New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Legendary recording group and R&B icons Kool & The Gang had a spectacular year with the release of their album People Just Wanna Have Fun. With over 2.5 million streams to date and praise from Rolling Stone, Insider and Billboard (''People Just Wanna Have Fun' is a fitting next chapter in the Kool & the Gang legacy"), the album reminds fans why the group has remained a household name for almost 60 years. They are also nominated for another BET Soul
Train award for Best Group this year and they won a German Record Critics' Award!
This summer, Kool & The Gang toured the US playing their nostalgic hits and new music. They performed live on Good Morning
America lead album single "Let's Party," which amassed over 7.4 million views on TikTok. Kool & The Gang are set to return to the stage at Westgate Las
Vegas Resort & Casino for eight residency show dates throughout next year.
Kool & The Gang Westgate Las
Vegas Resort & Casino:
February 9th & 10th, 2024
May 24th & 25th, 2024
August 2nd & 3rd, 2024
October 4th & 5th, 2024
Kool & The Gang continues to release music with goals of making the good times better and the bad times more bearable. After the passing of members Ronald "Khalis" Bell and
Dennis "D.T."
Thomas in 2020 and 2021, Kool & The Gang's latest album features some of the last work performed by the horn players.
Adding to this incredible year, Kool & The Gang founder and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee
George Brown released his memoir Too Hot: Kool & The Gang & Me, which reflects on navigating fame as an African American trailblazer, as well as the band's road life and personal challenges. In his book,
George shares how his recent cancer scare and subsequent treatment compelled him to share his story to give readers a glimpse into a band whose reputation was considered relatively tame, but in reality, was exactly the opposite.
George was recently interviewed on the Questlove Supreme Podcast and NPR Weekend Edition to talk about the inspiring memoir.
Beyond music, group founder Robert Bell created a collection of champagnes called Le Kool. Bell's champagne is sourced from Grand Cru Vineyards in France, earning the Best Champagne
Brand Award 2023 by LuxLife Magazine.
The band is led by founding members Robert "Kool" Bell (bassist) and
George "Funky" Brown (keyboardist, drummer & producer of this album), who view People Just Wanna Have Fun as a summation of their long career, during which they sold 70 million albums worldwide with hit singles like "Celebration," "Ladies Night," "Get Down on It," "Hollywood Swinging" & beyond. Since their start in 1964, the group has amassed two Grammy Awards, seven American
Music Awards, 31 gold and platinum albums, a BET Soul
Train Lifetime Achievement Award and star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kool's bass guitar is even featured in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.
From Newark to Nairobi, Kool & the Gang have performed continuously longer than any R&B group in history and are the most sampled R&B band of all time, including Madonna, Jay-Z, Beastie Boys,
Janet Jackson,
Cypress Hill and P. Diddy. Not to mention their music on soundtracks from Rocky, Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction to Wreck-It Ralph and many more.
Yet throughout all the success, Kool & The Gang has remained true to their roots while pushing into the future. Bell says of the album, "You've got the funk, you've got the jazzier tracks, we have a few ballads on there. Then there are songs that cross over to a pop sort of thing. We go from the '70s, the '80s, right into now. It's old school, it's new school - we kinda captured it all here. With all our music over the years, people have had fun. So I'd say this album just about sums it all up."
