The B-52s bring their 35th Anniversary Tour to South Florida!

With 35 years and over 20 million albums sold highlighting their career, there can be no doubt as to why The B-52s remain one of rock music’s most beloved and enduring bands.

Any mystery concerning the band’s longevity and ongoing appeal is immediately solved when exposed to a B-52s concert experience. From groundbreaking songs like “Rock Lobster,” “Dance This Mess Around” and “Private Idaho“ to chart-topping hits like “Love Shack” and “Roam” and “Deadbeat Club” to their thrilling reemergence on the pop scene with their 2008 CD “Funplex”, The B-52s’ unforgettable dance-rock tunes start a party every time their music begins.

Formed in 1976 in Athens, GA, the band played their first gig at a friend’s house on Valentine’s Day 1977. Naming themselves after Southern slang for exaggerated ‘bouffant” hairdos, the newly-christened B-52s (Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland, Cindy Wilson and her brother, the late Ricky Wilson) began weekend road trips to New York City for gigs at CBGBs and a handful of other venues. Before long, their thrift store aesthetic and genre-defying songs were the talk of the post-punk underground. A record deal soon followed and their self-titled debut disc, produced by Chris Blackwell, sold more than 500,000 copies on the strength of their first singles, the garage rock party classic “Rock Lobster,” and “52 Girls.” The B-52s began to attract fans far beyond the punk clubs of the Lower East Side — galvanizing the pop world with their ‘stream-of-consciousness’ approach to songwriting and outrageous performance.

With the release of their second studio effort, “Wild Planet” (1980), The B-52s proved their success was no fluke with hits with “Private Idaho,” “Give Me Back My Man” and “Strobe Light.” In just two albums, The B-52s created a lexicon of songs, styles, phrases and images which would set the standard for the development of the ‘alternative music scene’ for the next decade. The success of “Mesopotamia” (1982), and “Whammy!” (1983) positioned The B-52s as MTV regulars as well as alternative radio staples.

At the time of their greatest achievements, however, they suffered their greatest tragedy — the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson from AIDS. Wilson’s passing in 1985 came just after the sessions for “Bouncing Off the Satellites” (1986). The album, dedicated to Wilson, had taken nearly three years to complete but was worth the wait, serving up the fan favorites “Summer of Love” and “Wig.”

After a period of mourning, the band re-emerged with the Don Was/Nile Rodgers co-produced “Cosmic Thing” (1989). The album proved to be the greatest commercial achievement for the group, and its success propelled the band to international superstars. “Cosmic Thing” soared to the top of the Billboard Album chart, sold five million copies and yielded their first-ever Hot 10 hits — “Love Shack” and “Roam” and a Top 40 hit with “Deadbeat Club.”

Soon after, Cindy Wilson amicably departed. As a trio, Fred, Keith and Kate re-enlisted the tag team of Was and Rodgers to produce the energetic “Good Stuff” (1992) with its popular title cut and concert favorite “Is That You Mo-Dean?” Wilson returned in 1998 for “Time Capsule” followed by the two-disc collection “Nude on the Moon: The B-52s Anthology” (2002).

In 2008 The B-52s released their first new album in 16 years, the aptly titled “Funplex”.

The band celebrated its 34th anniversary in 2011 with a triumphant return to their hometown of Athens, GA. The concert was recorded and filmed for a CD and DVD release entitled “The B-52s with the Wild Crowd! Live in Athens, GA.”

As they take their party-music revolution into the 21st century, The B-52s show no signs of slowing down serving up their own unique blend of music and showmanship to millions of fans around the world.
The B-52s will be at the Seminole Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida on Wednesday August 22, 2012.