CLEARWATER, Fla. – Ruth Eckerd Hall presents Air Supply on Saturday, January 28 at 8 pm. Tickets go on sale Friday, August 5 at 10 am.
Graham Russell & Russell Hitchcock met on May 12, 1975, the first day of rehearsals for Jesus Christ Superstar in Sydney, Australia; they became instant friends with their common love for The Beatles and, of course, singing. They quickly gained a reputation for great harmonies and for original songs that Graham was constantly writing.
They made a demo on a cassette of two songs, “Love and Other Bruises” and “If You Knew Me” and took it to every record company in Sydney. Everyone turned it down but one — CBS Records — who admired their unique style. They made a single in one afternoon and it shot to number one on the national charts.
Air Supply was signed to Arista Records and in 1980, Lost in Love became the fastest-selling single in the world, leaping to the top of all of the charts. Air Supply was now on their way. The second single was All Out of Love. Seven top-five singles later, Air Supply at that time had equaled The Beatles’ run of consecutive top-five singles.
The albums Lost in Love, The One That You Love, Now & Forever and The Greatest Hits sold in excess of 20 million copies. Lost in Love was named Song of the Year in 1980 and with the other singles, sold more than 10 million copies. Lost in Love, All Out of Love, The One That You Love, Sweet Dreams and Making Love Out Of Nothing At All have each achieved multi-million plays on the radio.
In July 2005, their live DVD, It Was 30 Years Ago Today celebrated 30 years of success around the world and in that same month, Air Supply smashed attendance records when, in Cuba, at one show they played to 175,000 people. Also 2005 saw the release of The Singer and the Song, an acoustic album of many of their big hits which received critical acclaim.
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In May 2010, the long-awaited album, Mumbo Jumbo –also the duo’s first studio recording in eight years- was released. Recorded at Graham Russell’s home studio near Park City, Utah and at Odds On’s state of the art facilities in Las Vegas with top session musicians and an orchestra, Mumbo Jumbo was produced by Russell and engineered by Odds On’s Sean O’Dwyer, whose credits include Pink Floyd, Randy Newman and Blink-182. Among the 14-tracks, released by Odds On’s label, was the first single Dance With Me, which earned Air Supply a prominent feature article in Billboard Magazine titled Still Supplying The Hits After 35 Years.
Just weeks after composer and vocalist Graham Russell was honored with a BMI Million-Air Certificate recognizing 3 million performances of the duo’s hit All Out Of Love, Air Supply’s new song was the #1 most added track on the FMQB AC40 Chart, and also one of the most added on the R&R (Radio and Records) AC Chart and the Mediabase AC chart.
In 2013, the duo was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association’s Hall of Fame. Air Supply celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2015 and continue to delight audiences all over the world.
Tickets priced at $100, $70 and $50 may be purchased at The Raymond James Central Ticket Office at Ruth Eckerd Hall, by calling 727.791.7400 or visiting www.RuthEckerdHall.com.
The Raymond James Central Ticket Office at Ruth Eckerd Hall is open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 pm ONLY. The Raymond James Central Ticket Office at Ruth Eckerd Hall will open one hour prior to show time.
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