Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
HEINZ HALL
Sat, Feb 9, 2019, 8:00pm
Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, an award–winning, multi-faceted pop/urban icon, joins the PSO for the very first time.The prolific music man counts more than 200 Top 10 R&B hits and over 50 Top 10 Pop hits, with 16 songs reaching No. 1.
"As co-founder with L.A. Reid of LaFace Records in 1989, Babyface nurtured the careers of such megastars as TLC, OutKast, Usher, and Toni Braxton. An 11-time Grammy Award® winner, Babyface most recently released Return of the Tender Lover in December 2015, his first solo album in seven years. This latest project introduces a freer, less structured Babyface putting his stamp on a contemporary sound he describes as "unapologetic R&B." This album follows up the critical and commercial response to his and Toni Braxton’s 2014 Grammy®–winning album Love, Marriage & Divorce.
Paralleling those achievements are Babyface’s extensive songwriting and production credits from the 1990’s forward. He has produced and written/co-written hits for artists from Whitney Houston, Eric Clapton, and Michael Jackson to Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, P!nk, and Beyoncé, among countless others. That hit list boasts such smashes as Madonna’s "Take a Bow," Clapton’s "Change the World," and Boyz II Men’s "I’ll Make Love to You." His most recent productions include collaborations with BET for "New Edition Story," Bruno Mars, Kat Graham, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Ledisi, Colbie Caillat, Jennifer Hudson, Ariana Grande, After 7, and Toni Braxton, as well as wrote and produced music for the Adam Sandler film Sandy Wexler.