Peabo Bryson Comes to Pepperdine This Month

Two-time GRAMMY and Oscar Award-winner Peabo Bryson brings an intimate concert experience to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Saturday, October 22, 2022 at 8 p.m.

Tickets, starting at $40 for adults and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or visiting arts.pepperdine.edu.

Peabo Bryson is one of the premier vocalists of contemporary music over the last quarter century. Possessing a beautifully rich, almost operatic voice, Bryson has released more than 20 albums, enjoying an unprecedented level of international success and making him the first artist in music history to have separate records topping four different charts.

Bryson moved to Capitol Records in 1978, where his album "Reaching for the Sky" went gold and the title track was a number six R&B hit. With his LP "Crosswinds" (gold,1978), he truly penetrated the hearts of soul fans everywhere with the title tracks "Feel the Fire" and "I'm So Into You", which spent two weeks as the nation's number two R&B hit. He was paired with Capitol label-mate Natalie Cole for the 1979 project "We're the Best of Friends" and a year later with Roberta Flack for the double-LP "Live & More" (on Atlantic Records). Peabo delivered four more albums for Capitol before making a second, even bigger album with Flack titled "Born to Love", a gold seller that featured the smash "Tonight I Celebrate My Love" (Top 5 R&B and #16 Pop). That led him to sign a deal with Elektra Records for four albums, the second of which, "Take No Prisoners", featured the crossover smash "If Ever You're In My Arms Again" (Top 10 Pop and Top 10 R&B).

With each move in his career, applause for Bryson became louder. New York Times music critic Jon Pareles called Bryson the "Pavarotti of soul singers". His duets with Natalie Cole-"What You Won't Do for Love"- and Roberta Flack"Tonight, I Celebrate My Love," a Top 15 pop smash --had earned Bryson the tag "King of Balladeers." With "If Ever You're in My Arms Again," which landed in the Number 10 spot on the pop charts, he scored another crossover hit and solidified his mainstream audience. Both "Tonight" and "If" went to Number One on the adult contemporary charts. A return to Capitol in 1989 for the album "All My Love" earned him his first R&B #1 single with a remake of the late Al Wilson's "Show & Tell" (a song he proudly keeps the torch lit for in all of his shows). He hit the R&B chart-top a second time with the smash "Can You Stop The Rain", the title track of his R&B chart-topping first of two albums for Columbia Records. The single won Bryson a 1991 Grammy nomination for best R&B vocal performance by a male, as did "Lost in the Night" in 1992.

But it was two songs for Disney animated films that earned Peabo his two Grammys. The first was 1991's "Beauty and the Beast" with international pop singer Celine Dion which was a Number One pop hit. The very next year, Peabo struck gold again receiving another Grammy for "A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)" from Aladdin which he performed with Regina Belle. Both "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) and "A Whole New World" (1992) won Oscars for "Best Song". Since these milestones, he has been even more sought after as a guest vocalist and duet partner, resulting in his collaborations with Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga on "We Kiss in the Shadows" (#1 on the Classical Crossover chart from a new recording of "The King and I" score), Melissa Manchester's "Lovers After All", and Kenny G's "By The Time This Night is Over" (from the chart topping Contemporary Jazz CD, "Breathless"), which enjoyed a three month run on the Hot 100 in 1993. In June of 1993, Bryson sold out seven consecutive shows at Radio City Music Hall.

Tickets may be purchased by calling the Center for the Arts Box Office at (310) 506-4522 from noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and two hours prior to curtain time. Tickets to all events are also available online at: arts.pepperdine.edu/tickets/

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from over 1,000 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.

The Center for the Arts is located on the Pepperdine University campus at 24255 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, CA. Parking is available during performances next to Smothers Theatre for a fee and in the Theme Tower lot with shuttle service at no charge. All programs and artists are subject to change.

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