On the heels of this morning’s blockbuster announcement that legendary Canadian band Rush is commencing on a 2026 tour and, more importantly, playing homage to our fair city (where they really broke out due to WMMS) with a stop here in Cleveland next September to finish out the seven-city tour, last night’s show at Rocket Arena was nothing less than an epic concert showcasing four of the most legendry singers that popular music has ever produced.
The “Queens” Tour, consisting of Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Stephanie Mills, and Patti LaBelle, wrapped up their tour here in Cleveland as well.
Both Ms. Knight and Ms. LaBelle, both 81 years old, were magnificent. The youngster of the bunch at a spry 68 years old was Stephanie Mills. While age may have caught up with them, their voices were all in fine form.
Chaka Khan, donning a mane of purplish hair, strutted around the stage with an aplomb that her royal status bestowed.
Ms. Knight’s set was the shortest of the quartet, lasting less than a half hour. She was then followed by Ms. Mills, and then “Lady Marmalade” auteur LaBelle.
Rounding the night out was Ms. Khan, absolutely owning that stage.
At the start of the show, a graphic appeared on the large screen behind the stage that really laid out what the whole evening would be all about:
“Legends.”
“Royalty.”
“Soul.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
