John Legend
Soul crooner John Legend is set to perform the late Marvin Gaye ‘s classic 1971 album What’s Going On in its entirety live at The Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday, August 20th.
The Live Nation concert is one of several by both popular and emerging artists that will be streaming live for free via the Live Nation Channel on Yahoo Screen on iOS, Android, mobile web, desktop and Smart TV platforms, including AppleTV, Roku and Xbox 360.
“What’s Going On was an artistic masterpiece,” the “All of Me” singer told Yahoo! Music last week. “It was beautifully performed and arranged by Marvin and his collaborators. It had a strong sense of cohesion and clarity in its vision. And it was such a bold choice for an artist known primarily for his sweet love songs to make such provocative album with such a strong political message. But what made it so great was that it didn’t come off too preachy. He was able to make this “message” record that was still sensual and beautiful. It was still love music.”
He went on to say:
“I was originally contacted a couple years ago by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Marvin having performed the album live at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra. I was honored to perform Marvin’s vocals then, as we recreated this iconic moment. It was such a wonderful experience that we had to figure out a way to do it again. This time, we’re bringing the performance to the West Coast, to L.A.’s iconic Hollywood Bowl.
I’m under no illusion that I’m as gifted a vocalist as Marvin Gaye, but I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to perform this amazing music. The standard is clearly very, very high, and I’ll do the best I can to honor his incredible legacy.”
For his performance, John will be joined by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and the 50-piece Los Angeles Philharmonic .
Save the date and tune in on Wednesday, August 20th at at 8pm PT/11 pm ET at screen.yahoo.com .
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