Tonight: Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. in ‘Up, Up and Away! The Concert’

Tonight: Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. in ‘Up, Up and Away! The Concert’

TONIGHT, AT THE A.D. Players at the George Theater, Music With Friends presents Grammy-award winning duo Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. for an uplifting evening of pop and “champagne soul” classics. The musical couple, who celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary last July, began their career as the original stars and lead singers of the vocal group The 5th Dimension, whose magical harmonies drew equal inspiration from pop, R&B, soul, gospel, jazz and Broadway music. The couple have never stopped singing and in addition to seven Grammy Awards, are recipients of the JFK Profile in Courage Award for their lifelong activism.


Last summer, a new generation of music fans were introduced to The 5th Dimension thanks to master drummer Questlove’s critically lauded directorial debut, Summer of Soul (. . . Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), which documents the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. In eye-popping footage, The 5thDimension takes the stage on a sunny day, resplendent in canary yellow pirate shirts, Creamsicle orange fringe vests and tan bell bottoms, and launches into “Don’t Cha Hear Me Callin’ To Ya,” followed by a stunning performance of “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures),” the latter a medley of two songs from the groundbreaking rock musical, Hair. It’s a historic moment; as one audience member who was there for the performance tells the camera, “I remember looking at Marilyn McCoo . . . I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life!”

After leaving The 5th Dimension im 1975, McCoo and Davis continued to make music, including the number one single, “You Don’t Have to be a Star (to Be in My Show), while enjoying a long career as songwriters and stars of “The Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. Show,” the first major television network variety show to be hosted by an African American married couple. Their 2021 album, Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons, is a beautifully arranged (and sung!) program of songs by the Beatles and Wings, recast as timely social commentary and described by the couple as “a tribute to the blackbirds whose lived ended tragically by violence, and those who sacrificed their all in the name of social justice.”

Given the scope of Marilyn and Billy’s repertoire, and the breadth of their historical reach, tonight’s concert will be a special treat for fans of beautiful singing and a celebration of the transcendent power of music.

Fall Philanthropy Report: Easter Seals of Greater Houston ‘Impacts Where People Need Us the Most’

What year was your organization launched? Founded in Houston in 1947, as the Cerebral Palsy Treatment Center, the organization provided services to individuals with disabilities living in Houston and Harris County. In 1989, the organization changed its name and greatly expanded its services to meet the needs of its clientele. Today as Easter Seals Greater Houston, the organization provides multiple outstanding service programs to children, adults, veterans, and service members with all types of disabilities and their families in Harris and sixteen surrounding counties.

Keep Reading Show less

Sylvia Casares

MANY OF THE city’s who’s-who gathered at the city’s buzziest venue to toast Houston CityBook’s 2024 “Leaders & Legends,” presented by The Village of River Oaks.

Keep Reading Show less
Food+Travel

Blake and Dana Fertitta with Belle and Zoe

CITIZENS FOR ANIMAL Protection (CAP) is having a very merry holiday season, having raised a record-breaking $1 million at its annual gala in November.

Keep Reading Show less
Parties