WBLS

Sunday, February 19, 2012 7:00PM

NEW EDITION RETURNS FOR 2012!

New Edition 30th Anniversary Tour

Sunday, February 19th @ 7pm
(President’s Day Weekend)
at NJPAC
One Center Street
Newark, NJ 07102

New Edition hits the road with a major tour in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their first album,“Candy Girl”. The now grown up boy band including Bobby Brown, Ronnie DeVoe, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant, Michael Bivins, and Ricky Bell have a schedule of live dates and are working on a book, movie, and a stage play in 2012.

In a 2011 Billboard.com interview, DeVoe explained, “2012 is going to be an incredible year for us.” The group will also begin work on their first album of all new material since their 1996 release “Home Again.” In the spring of 2011, New Edition issued a press release announcing that all six members were reuniting to kick off the 30th anniversary celebration of Candy Girl with their fans.

All six original members take the stage in this very exciting show, performing all your favorites from “Candy Girl” to “Can You Stand the Rain,” plus many of the tunes that launched their solo careers, including “My Prerogative” (Bobby Brown), “My My My” (Johnny Gill), “Sensitivity” (Ralph Tresvant), and more!

New Edition formed in Boston, MA in 1978, recorded mostly as a quintet, and reached their height of popularity in the 1980s. The R&B group the forerunner of the boy band movement of the ’80s and ’90s and paved the way for groups like New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys and ’N Sync.

While enjoying early popularity in 1983, the group consisted of Ronnie DeVoe, Ralph Tresvant, Bobby Brown, Michael Bivins, and Ricky Bell. Their early hits included the singles 1983’s “Candy Girl” (1983), “Cool It Now” (1984),and “Mr. Telephone Man”. In late 1985, Bobby Brown left the group to embark on a successful solo career. The group continued with four members and eventually recruited singer Johnny Gill to record their 1988 album “Heart Break”. In 1990, the group went on hiatus and various members worked on side projects, including the group Bell Biv Devoe. Additionally, Gill and Tresvant recorded successful solo albums.

All six members reunited in 1996-1997 for the album Home Again but during the follow-up tour, Bivins and Brown quit the group and the remaining dates were cancelled. Various reunions have occurred since then, usually with the 1987-1990 line-up with Bobby Brown joining in on occasion. Their group’s last studio release was 2004’s One Love. 2010 found some of the band members recording and touring: Bell Biv Devoe, and Heads of State, featuring Brown, Tresvant, and Gill.

Fans can look forward to seeing a lot more from New Edition in the year ahead and in the 30th anniversary year of Candy Girl in 2013.

New Edition Discography

Candy Girl (1983)
New Edition (1984)
All for Love (1985)
Under the Blue Moon (1986)
Heart Break (1988)
Home Again (1996)
One Love (2004)
Candy Girl 25th Anniversary Edition (2008)