Patti LaBelle, Alicia Keys, Angie Stone, and Elton John will each perform during Sunday’s (February 10) NBA All-Star Game. The event takes place at Philadelphia’s First Union Center, and will be televised on NBC beginning at 5 p.m. ET.
The pregame ceremony will feature John singing “Philadelphia Freedom,” followed by a Keys and Stone duet rendition of “America The Beautiful.” The honor of performing the national anthem will go to Philadelphia native Patti LaBelle. During the game’s halftime, John will again take center stage and sing “I’m Still Standing” and his new track “This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore.”
Hall & Oates will take part in the NBA All-Star Saturday Night (February 9) festivities, also in “City of Brotherly Love.” LAUNCH asked native son Daryl Hall to describe how important the Philadelphia sound was in creating his own music.
“Before I worked with John (Oates), I worked with Gamble & Huff and Tommy Bell, and all those people who created what everybody knows as the ‘Philadelphia Sound.’ And John and I, sort of, our idea was to create our own version of it, you know, and we used elements of the sound of that city, and then combined some other elements that people weren’t using. It was, you know, extremely important, you know-Philadelphia and our music are one and the same thing.”
