WAR is the quintessential Los Angeles street band, first discovered by producer/writer Jerry Goldstein in a North Hollywood club. Eric Burdon and WAR burst onto the charts
WAR is the quintessential Los Angeles street band, first discovered by producer/writer Jerry Goldstein in a North Hollywood club. Eric Burdon and WAR burst onto the charts with the classic worldwide hit “Spill The Wine.” Burdon and WAR toured extensively across the United States and Europe, until Burdon departed the band during the tour. The tour continued and the band returned to Los Angeles to record their first album as WAR. The rest is history.
WAR has achieved 31 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum RIAA sales honors, 11 Top 10 pop hits, and 15 Top 10 R&B hits, including “Low Rider,” “Spill the Wine,” “Why Can’t We Be Friends,” “The Cisco Kid,” “The World is a Ghetto,” “Gypsy Man,” and “Summer.”
Over the years, WAR’s songs have been sampled by a broad range of artists, including the Beastie Boys, George Clinton, The Geto Boys, Ice Cube, Ice-T, Janet Jackson, Method Man, Redman, Smash Mouth, Tupac Shakur, Barry White, ZZ Top, Portishead, Korn, and
many more.
Songs from the group’s legendary catalog have been featured on the soundtracks for several hit movies, including Lethal Weapon, Boogie Nights, and Gone in 60 Seconds, popular TV shows “Beverly Hills 90210,” “My Name Is Earl,” and “The Simpsons,” and best-selling video games “Grand Theft Auto IV” and “Skate 2.”
Sly and the Family Stone are recognized as rock & rolls first inter-racial band, including both male and female instrumentalists, and as pioneers of musical artists’ bringing attention to topical and social issues in the 1960s when segregation filled the United States with angst, violence, and headlines. As one of the biggest bands in America in the late ‘60s through the ‘mid-‘70s, they appeared at the 1969 Woodstock Festival performing between Credence Clearwater Revival and Janis Joplin.
The group was inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2007 and became R&B Pioneer Award Winners in 2001.
Along with founding members; saxophonist Jerry Martini, drummer Greg Errico, and trumpet player Cynthia Robinson, the group features singer Phunne (pronounced “Fun”), daughter of Cynthia and Sly Stone (founder of Sly and The Family Stone), keyboardist Alex Davis, guitarist Nate Wingfield and bassist/musical director Blaise Sison.
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