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Dressed to Kill Tour (Cher)

The Dressed to Kill Tour was the sixth solo concert tour by American singer-actress Cher . Launched in support of her twenty-fifth studio album, Closer to the Truth (2013), it started in Phoenix, Arizona on March 22, 2014 and continued across North America before coming to a close in San Diego on July 11, 2014. The tour has received mostly positive reception from critics, who praised Cher's vocal performance as well as the several costumes and show elements.

Background and development

Concert synopsis, critical reception, commercial performance, cancelled shows, external links.

Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo were listed as "special guests" for the first 13 dates from March 22, 2014 to April 12, 2014 and Cyndi Lauper for the further 36 shows from April 23, 2014 through July 11, 2014. [1] On November 21, 2014, after numerous delays in the planned launch of the second leg of the tour, Cher announced that she had prematurely aborted the tour due to health problems. Despite the cancellation of the 2nd leg, the tour made its way onto the Pollstar ' s Top 20 Worldwide Tours of 2014 list, ranking at number 19 with a gross of $55 million and more than 600,000 tickets sold. [2]

On September 23, 2013, Cher visited The Today Show aired on NBC where she performed " Woman's World ", " I Hope You Find It " and " Believe ". [3] While on the show, Cher announced that she would tour with her twenty-fifth album, Closer to the Truth . When speaking about the tour, Cher stated:

"Being on the road is horrible but the concerts are great. I can understand why bands tear up hotel rooms – it can be a very lonely place – but the only time you have fun is at the concerts." [4]

After the appearance, it was announced through Cher's website that American Express cardmembers would have the first chance to purchase the tickets during the tour pre-sale from September 30, 2013 to October 3, 2013. [5] Tickets that were purchased online included a physical copy of Closer to the Truth . [6]

On May 14, 2014, Cher revealed on The Today Show that the tour would be extended with 27 additional dates across North America, beginning on September 11, 2014. [7] For that second leg, fashion designer and long-time collaborator Bob Mackie had provided a string of new costumes for Cher. He was unable to make a commitment in the first place, and was thus replaced by Hugh Durrant for the first leg. [8]

After several postponements starting shortly before the originally planned launch in September, the second leg of the tour ultimately got cancelled on November 21, 2014; due to Cher recovering from an acute viral infection which affected her kidney function. [9] In an official statement, she indicated to be "devastated," adding she "sincerely hope[s] that we can come back again next year and finish what we started." [10]

The show began with Cher atop a pedestal in a glittering gown and feathered headdress singing " Woman's World " surrounded by dancers and backing vocalists; a gladiator-themed performance of " Strong Enough " followed. After she welcomes the audience to the show, a vampire-themed performance of " Dressed to Kill " came next, ending with Cher biting dancer Joe Slaughter's neck. [8] An interlude plays and Cher returns to sing " The Beat Goes On " and " I Got You Babe ", the latter with footage of her late-husband Sonny Bono appearing on the video screens behind her.

The third segment saw Cher's dancers paraded around the main floor as she sang " Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves " and " Dark Lady " before donning an floor-length Native American headdress to sing " Half-Breed ." After a brief interlude featuring clips from Cher's films, the singer then paid tribute to her appearance in Burlesque with "Welcome to Burlesque" and " You Haven't Seen the Last of Me ." [11] [12]

The fifth act began with a performance of " Take It Like a Man ", where Cher emerged from atop a gilded Trojan horse wearing a Helen of Troy -inspired gladiator outfit alongside her dancers. She then dedicated her cover of Marc Cohn 's " Walking in Memphis " to the moment when she and her mother saw Elvis Presley live in concert. Cher followed the performance with the hits " Just Like Jesse James ", " Heart of Stone " and " The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss) ".

The final act had Cher changing into her famous black see-through bodysuit to perform " I Found Someone " and " If I Could Turn Back Time ". She closed the main set with " Believe ", after changing in a jeweled bodysuit, like the one from her Vegas residency show . She then exited for a final costume change, and returned to close the concert with " I Hope You Find It " as she was raised up on a platform and flown above the audience amid sparkling lights. [11] [12]

Joey Guerra from the Houston Chronicle gave a positive review from her performance in Houston, writing: "There's no one quite like Cher. And there's nothing quite as spectacular as a Cher show." [12] Tiney Ricciardi from the Dallas Morning News praised her performance in Dallas, writing that the singer "wowed the audience with exact vocal execution" and "looked fabulous doing it." [13] Eva Raggio from the Dallas Observer also acclaimed the show in Dallas, writing Cher "brought Vegas to Dallas and delivered the greatest spectacle of the year." [14] Jerry Wofford from the Tulsa World was impressed with the show, commenting on the singer's humor and vocal power, writing: "She was carefree and irreverent and hilarious." [15] Dave McKenna from The Washington Post called the performance in Washington D.C. "outrageous" and "gutsy", while noting there were "plenty of nods to the old days." [16] Ben Rayer writing for The Star gave the singer's performance in Toronto three out of four stars, writing that "the 67-year old's performance sent tidal waves of elation through the arena." [17] James Reed from The Boston Globe praised her performance at the TD Garden, writing the singer was "in exceptional form, as a singer and entertainer." [18] Chris Azzopardi writing for Between the Lines gave a positive review at the performance in Detroit, calling the show "jaw-dropping, frilly, and elaborately produced." [19] Jeff Miers from The Buffalo News wrote her performance in Buffalo offered a "visceral thrill, one that everyone appeared to be willing to indulge in." [20] Tony Lofaro from the Ottawa Citizen praised the concert in Ottawa writing Cher is "a pop diva supreme with timeless quality and an over-worked Vegas patter with just enough titillating sexiness to send everybody home giddy." [21]

A.D. Amorosi from Philly.com wrote that the singer's voice in Philadelphia was "delicious, filled with deep, long vowels, even when iced-over by Auto-Tune robotics." [22] Laura DeMarco writing for The Plain Dealer commented on her performance in Cleveland, writing Cher "did not disappoint on her aptly dubbed tour" and the show was "full-on entertainment, from the fashion to the sounds of the set." [23] Jim Farber from the New York Daily News wrote her joyful performance in New York City "came from its mission to defy common notions of taste, age and even self-parody." [24] Melissa Ruggieri from Access Atlanta gave a positive review of the performance in Atlanta calling the singer "irreplaceable" and writing Cher's shows are "spectacles that are embellished to the point of excess." [25] Jim Abbott from the Orlando Sentinel noted there was "plenty of heart in Cher's spectacle" and "enough humor and shoot-from-the-hip candor to humanize the flashy excesses." [26] Timothy Finn from the Kansas City Star wrote the singer "justified her eminence" with a performance "that showcased her career in music, television and film and showed off her physical endurance, which is still impressive, especially for a 68-year-old." [27] Francois Marchand from the Vancouver Sun wrote the show was "an elaborate display that took fans on an aural and visual trip down memory lane," and adding it "was eye candy and glitter galore throughout." [28] Mikael Wood writing for the Los Angeles Times praised the performance at Staples Center writing the concert felt "reassuringly human, even low-key at points." [29]

On May 29, 2014 it was reported by Billboard that the Dressed to Kill Tour had claimed the No. 1 spot on their weekly ranking of Hot Tours with more than $15.5 million in revenue. From April 23 through May 17, 2014, Cher sold 177,239 tickets, each show during that period being a sell-out. Since the tour's launch on March 22, 2014, a total of 340,000 tickets with a gross of over $30 million had been sold through the show on May 17. The Izod Center in New Jersey had drawn the largest crowd with 14,893 people in attendance. Toronto 's Air Canada Centre held the record of highest sales total since the beginning of the tour, with $1.7 million in revenue from an April 7, 2014 performance. [30]

The first leg of the tour, which spanned 49 dates across North America, grossed a total of $55.1 Million, as reported by Billboard on July 15, 2014. One of the most lucrative concert tours of 2014, it has been attended by 610,413 people so far. The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas produced the largest gross of the first leg, earning $1.75 Million via a concert on May 25. [8]

On Pollstar ' s Mid Year Top 100 Worldwide Tours list, released in July 2014 and ranking tours up until that date, the "Dressed to Kill" tour was ranked at number 9 with $48.5 million in grosses and 538,707 tickets sold. [31] On Pollstar ' s Top 20 Worldwide Tours of 2014 list, the "Dressed to Kill" tour was ranked at number 19 with $54.8 million in grosses and 608,435 tickets sold. [32]

This set list is representative of the performance in Kansas City. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour. [27]

• " Woman's World "
• " Strong Enough "
• " Dressed to Kill "
• " The Beat Goes On "
• " I Got You Babe "
• " Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves "
• " Dark Lady "
• " Half-Breed "
• " Welcome to Burlesque "
• " You Haven't Seen the Last of Me "
• " Take It Like a Man "
• " Walking in Memphis "
• " Just Like Jesse James "
• " I Found Someone "
• " If I Could Turn Back Time "
• " Believe "
• " I Hope You Find It "
• On the first night of the show Cher performed " The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss) ".
• During the concerts in Phoenix, Toronto, Buffalo, and Montreal, Cher performed " Heart of Stone ". [11]
• Musical Directors: Ollie Marland and Paul Mirkovich
• Guitar: David Barry
• Bass Guitar: Eva Gardner
• Keyboards: Ollie Marland and Darrell Smith
• Drums: Mark Schulman
• Backing Vocalists: Stacy Campbell and Nikki Tillman
• Dancers: Jackie Dowsett Ballinger, Sagiv Ben Binyamin, Suzanne Easter, Emilie Livingston , Tyne Stecklein, Sumayah McRae, Marlon Pelayo, Ryan Ramirez, Joe Slaughter, Jamal Story, Maximiliano Torandell, Jaymz Tuaileva and Kevin Wilson
• ↑ During Cyndi Lauper's performance at Barclays Center on May 9, 2014 she was joined onstage by Liza Minnelli and Rosie O'Donnell . [24]

Related Research Articles

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The 1989 World Tour was the fourth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, launched in support of her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Swift announced the tour's first dates in North America, Europe, Japan, and Oceania in November and December 2014. She announced additional dates for Singapore and China in June 2015, and a final announcement of the third show in Melbourne was made the following month.

The Piece of Me Tour was the tenth concert tour by American entertainer Britney Spears. Although it largely mirrors her Las Vegas residency, Britney: Piece of Me, which concluded in December 2017; the stage-show was updated with new remixes, production technology, visuals and set list modifications to accommodate for arena shows.

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The Here We Go Again Tour was the seventh solo concert tour by American singer-actress Cher in support of her twenty-sixth studio album Dancing Queen . This was the first time the singer had embarked on a world tour since her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour (2002–2005). The tour started on September 21, 2018, and was forced to conclude on March 10, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• ↑ "Mid Year Top 100 Worldwide Tours" (PDF) . Pollstar . Pollstar Inc. p.   1. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015 . Retrieved December 30, 2014 .
• ↑ Carter, Caitlin (September 24, 2013). "Cher Announces 'Dressed to Kill' Tour In Support of New Album, 'Closer To The Truth' On NBC's Today Show" . Music Times . Retrieved September 29, 2013 .
• ↑ "Cher still sensational at 67 as she announces new tour" . Express . September 23, 2013 . Retrieved September 29, 2013 .
• ↑ "Cher Announces The "Dressed To Kill" Tour" . Cher . September 23, 2013. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013 . Retrieved September 29, 2013 .
• ↑ Test, Irene (September 23, 2013). "Cher Announces 'Dressed to Kill' Tour on 'Today' " . KoVideo . Archived from the original on September 29, 2013 . Retrieved September 29, 2013 .
• ↑ "Cher reveals on TODAY she's adding 27 more dates to 'farewell' tour" . Today . May 14, 2014 . Retrieved May 14, 2014 .
• 1 2 3 Keith Caulfield (July 15, 2014). "Cher Tour Grosses $55 Million (So Far)" . Billboard . Retrieved July 16, 2014 .
• ↑ "Cher cancels rest of 'Dressed to Kill' tour dates" . EW.com . Retrieved 2019-12-13 .
• ↑ "Cher cancels remaining tour dates" . BBC . 2014-11-21 . Retrieved 2019-12-13 .
• 1 2 3 Christina Fuoco-Karasinski (March 23, 2014). "Cher Delivers Classic Hits, Outrageous Costumes, at Dazzling 'Dressed to Kill' Tour Opener" . Billboard . Retrieved March 23, 2014 .
• 1 2 3 Joey Guerra (March 25, 2014). "Cher dazzles on Dressed To Kill Tour" . Chron.com . Retrieved March 25, 2014 .
• ↑ Tiney Ricciardi (March 27, 2014). "Concert review: Cher gives gaudy, glamorous farewell at American Airlines Center" . Guide Live . Archived from the original on March 27, 2014 . Retrieved March 27, 2014 .
• ↑ Eva Raggio (March 28, 2014). "Concert review: Cher at American Airlines Center, 03/26/14" . Dallas Observer . Retrieved March 28, 2014 .
• ↑ Jerry Wofford (March 30, 2014). "Review: Cher's impressive range, sense of humor in full force at Tulsa show" . Tulsa World . Retrieved March 31, 2014 .
• ↑ Dave McKenna (April 6, 2014). "Cher, on 'farewell farewell tour,' revives hits and shows she's ready to move on" . The Washington Post . Retrieved April 6, 2014 .
• ↑ Ben Rayer (April 8, 2014). "Cher sends tidal waves of elation through the ACC on her final (?) tour: Review" . The Star . Retrieved April 8, 2014 .
• ↑ James Reed (April 10, 2014). "Cher turns 'farewell' tease into an entertainment ride" . The Boston Globe . Retrieved April 13, 2014 .
• ↑ Chris Azzopardi (April 15, 2014). "Cher Is God On 'Dressed To Kill Tour' " . Between the Lines . Retrieved April 15, 2014 .
• ↑ Jeff Miers (April 23, 2014). "Cher delights Buffalo crowd with glib gab and a hit-filled show" . The Buffalo News . Retrieved April 25, 2014 .
• ↑ Tony Lofaro (April 27, 2014). "Concert: Cher and Cyndi Lauper both not ready to leave, just yet" . Ottawa Citizen . Retrieved April 27, 2014 .
• ↑ A.D. Amorosi (April 28, 2014). "Concert review: Cher in fine voice and costume at Wells Fargo" . Philly.com . Retrieved May 1, 2014 .
• ↑ Laura DeMarco (May 3, 2014). "Cher wows 15,000 at The Q with burlesque, circus, Trojan horses – and, yes, music (Review)" . The Plain Dealer . Retrieved May 9, 2014 .
• 1 2 Jim Farber (May 10, 2014). "Cher flips through chapters of her past, shows unmatched style in 'Dressed to Kill' tour: concert review" . New York Daily News . Retrieved May 10, 2014 .
• ↑ Melissa Ruggieri (May 13, 2014). "Concert review: Cher says goodbye to Atlanta with a sequined spectacle" . Access Atlanta . Archived from the original on May 17, 2014 . Retrieved May 15, 2014 .
• ↑ Jim Abbott (May 16, 2014). "Concert review: Cher at Amway Center" . Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved May 17, 2014 .
• 1 2 Timothy Finn (June 1, 2014). "Cher pulls out all the stops at Sprint Center concert" . Kansas City Star . Retrieved June 7, 2014 .
• ↑ Francois Marchand (June 28, 2014). "Review: Cher fares well in another farewell" . Vancouver Sun . Retrieved June 29, 2014 .
• ↑ Mikael Wood (July 8, 2014). "Review — Cher is still a survivor at Staples Center" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved July 12, 2014 .
• ↑ Bob Allen (May 29, 2014). "Cher Claims Top Spot on Hot Tours with $15.5M in Revenue" . Billboard . Retrieved May 31, 2014 .
• ↑ "Mid Year Top 100 Worldwide Tours" (PDF) . Pollstar . Pollstar Inc. p.   1. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015 . Retrieved July 21, 2014 .
• "Billboard Boxscore   :: Current Scores" . Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. April 2, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014 . Retrieved April 2, 2014 .
• "Billboard Boxscore   :: Current Scores" . Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. April 9, 2014. Archived from the original on April 9, 2014 . Retrieved April 9, 2014 .
• "Billboard Boxscore   :: Current Scores" . Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. April 23, 2014. Archived from the original on April 23, 2014 . Retrieved April 23, 2014 .
• "Billboard Boxscore   :: Current Scores" . Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. June 18, 2014. Archived from the original on June 18, 2014 . Retrieved June 18, 2014 .
• "Billboard Boxscore   :: Current Scores" . Billboard . Prometheus Global Media. July 2, 2014. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014 . Retrieved July 2, 2014 .
• ↑ Elysa Gardner (November 20, 2014). "Cher cancels remaining tour dates" . USA Today . Retrieved January 15, 2015 .
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Cher Announces ‘Dressed to Kill’ Tour

Cher is ready to hit the road on the "Dressed to Kill" tour, her first trek in eight years. The legendary performer made the announcement on NBC's "Today" show on Monday.

By Billboard Staff

Billboard Staff

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Cher is ready to hit the road on the “Dressed to Kill” tour, her first trek in eight years. The legendary performer made the announcement Monday morning on NBC’s “Today” show , telling the hosts that it won’t be easy.

“The road is horrible, but the concerts are great,” she told Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie. “I understand why guys in bands tear up hotel rooms and throw TVs out the windows, because it’s a very lonely place. The only time you have fun is at the concerts.” The tour will visit 49 cities across North America starting March 22 in Phoenix and will include stops in major markets including Washington D.C.,  Philadelphia, NYC (Brooklyn and East Rutherford, NJ), Seattle and Los Angeles before wrapping up July 11 in San Diego.

BMG Exits Live Music Business By Selling Its Stakes In Undercover and Karo

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A pre-sale for American Express cardholders runs Monday, Sept. 30, through Thursday Oct. 3. Each ticket purchase includes a copy of Cher’s new album, “Closer To The Truth,” which comes out tomorrow (Sept. 24). Further ticket info, including timing for general public sales, will be made public on Cher’s website.

Trending on Billboard

Cher, 67, wrapped her “Farewell Tour” (later dubbed “The Never Can Say Goodbye Tour”) in 2005 after playing 325 dates in 20 countries over the span of nearly three years.

CHER ‘DRESSED TO KILL’ TOUR IN 2014

March 22 – Phoenix, AZ (US Airways Center) March 24 – Houston, TX (Toyota Center) March 26 – Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center) March 28 – Little Rock, AR (Verizon Arena) March 29 –  Tulsa, OK  (BOK Center) March 31 – Nashville, TN (Bridgestone Arena) April 2 – Pittsburgh, PA (Consol Energy Center) April 4 – Washington DC (Verizon Center) April 5 – Uncasville, CT (Mohegan Sun April 7 – Toronto, ON  (Air Canada Centere) April 9 – Boston, MA  (TD Garden) April 11 – Indianapolis, IN (Bankers Life Fieldhouse) April 12 – Detroit, MI  (Joe Louis Arena) April 23 – Buffalo, NY  (First Niagara Center) April 25 – Montreal, QC (Bell Center) April 26 – Ottawa, ON  (Canada Tire Centere) April 28 – Philadelphia, PA (Wells Fargo Center) April 30 – Columbus, OH (Nationwide Arena) May 2 – Cleveland, OH (Quicken Loans Arena) May 5 – Charlotte, NC (Times Warner Cable Arena) May 7 – Raleigh, NC  (PNC Arena) May 9 – Brooklyn, NY (Barclays Center) May 10 – East Rutherford, NJ (Izod Center) May 12 – Atlanta, GA  (Philips Arena) May 14 – Jacksonville, FL (Veterans Memorial Arena) May 16 – Orlando, FL  (Amway Center) May 17 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL (BB&T Center) May 25 – Las Vegas, NV (MGM Grand May 28 – Denver, CO  (Pepsi Center) May 30 – Lincoln, NE  (Pinnacle Bank Arena) May 31 – Kansas City, MO (Sprint Center) June 2 – Louisville, KY (KFC Yum! Center) June 4 – St. Louis, MO (Scottrade Center) June 6 – Milwaukee, WI (BMO Harris Bradley Center) June 7 – Chicago, IL  (Allstate Arena) June 9 – Des Moines, IA (Wells Fargo Arena) June 11 – Minneapolis, MN (Target Center) June 20 – Winnipeg, MB (MTS Centere) June 21 – Saskatoon, SK (Credit Union Centere) June 23 – Edmonton, AB (Rexall Place June 25 – Calgary, AB  (Scotiabank Saddledome) June 27 – Vancouver, BC (Rogers Arena) June 28 – Seattle, WA  (Key Arena) June 30 – Portland, OR (Moda Center) July 2 – San Jose, CA  (SAP Center) at San Jose July 5 – Ontario, CA  (Citizens Business Bank Arena) July 7 – Los Angeles, CA (Staples Center) July 9 – Anaheim, CA (Honda Center) July 11 – San Diego, CA (Valley View Casino Center)

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Watch Kiss at their explosive, raucous best in this clip from a 1975 Alive! show

Rare footage has emerged online of the band on the cusp of greatness, performing at Detroit’s Cobo Hall

Kiss’ Dressed To Kill tour is the stuff of legend. In 1975, the band were struggling commercially but had a fearsome live reputation, so decided to go all out on recording a short run of shows.

Their label, Casablanca, was struggling to stay afloat so Kiss’ manager Bill Aucoin funded the tour out of his own pocket. The recordings – committed to tape amongst a live show of flame throwers, mechanical drum risers and endless blasts of dry ice – captured a band nearing the height of the powers, even if they didn’t know it yet. Indeed, the resulting album, Alive! , became Kiss’ breakthrough and a high watermark for the live album concept.

Now fans are sharing newly surfaced footage of Kiss’ performance at Detroit’s Cobo Hall on May 16, 1975. The first of four nights from the tour that were recorded for Alive!

The footage is fairly light on the pyrotechnics but captures a band finding their footing with one of their most receptive audiences to date, and responding with a vicious performance that is both theatrical and raw. 

The 33-minute footage includes renditions of Let Me Go, Rock & Roll , C’Mon & Love Me , Firehouse , Deuce , Rock & Roll All Nite and Black Diamond . The Cobo Hall show was also significant for being the date in which the Kiss banner that featured on the back cover of Alive! was photographed.

The clip also features some of the band’s most important guitars of the era, among them Paul Stanley’s Firebird I and Gene Simmons’ LoBue custom bass guitar . Ace Frehley can be seen playing his long-favored 1973 Tobacco Burst Les Paul Deluxe. 

Fan authority AceFrehleyLesPaul.com , reports this was modded to swap out the mini-humbuckers for a full-size pair before coming to Frehley, the guitarist then swapping those out for DiMarzio humbuckers in 1974. Later, Frehley would mod it further by turning it into a double-cut and refinishing it in black. Last year the Les Paul Deluxe went up for auction. 

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Guitar geekery aside, the above is a great (and, importantly, undubbed) clip – and a killer insight into a band that were just months away from hitting the peak of their fame and notoriety.

Meanwhile, Kiss continue to tour in their current incarnation (with Tommy Thayer on guitar, Eric Singer on drums) and Gene Simmons recently ruled-out a full return to the band for Ace Frehley , saying he lacks the “physical stamina” to take the job from Thayer. The invitation to Frehley and former drummer Peter Criss to join them for the encores remains open.

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Matt is Features Editor for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar , Guitarist , Guitar World , MusicRadar , NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound . In 2020, he launched  CreativeMoney.co.uk , which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.

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‘Bass on one shoulder, bow and arrows on the other’: life with Fela Kuti on history’s most dangerous tour

In 1979, my father Roy Ayers went on an extraordinary three-week tour with the Afrobeat pioneer amid extreme violence in Nigeria. Three band members recount the unforgettable trip

I n 1977, after Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti criticised the military regime in his native Nigeria, 1,000 government soldiers raided his compound, Kalakuta Republic. They beat and raped its inhabitants and threw Kuti’s 78-year-old mother from a second-storey window, ultimately killing her. Despite the attack, Kuti continued to use his music as a way to speak out.

Meanwhile, Roy Ayers – my father, with whom I have never had a relationship – was riding high on his 1976 hit song Everybody Loves the Sunshine . While he wasn’t especially political, he and Kuti had common ground in their pan-African beliefs. Ayers’s lawyer, who was Nigerian, convinced him that he and Kuti should link up. “You should go to Africa,” he said, “because there’s a musician I want you to meet.”

Ayers agreed and his lawyer arranged the logistics. Ayers duly travelled to Nigeria in 1979 to tour with Kuti. A resulting album, Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti and Roy Ayers : Music of Many Colours, was released in 1980 and drew widespread acclaim. But little is known about the tour that spawned it. Taking place when Nigeria was in a state of chaos, with government corruption prompting frequent unrest and subsequent violent crackdowns, it turned out to be a death-defying struggle.

Writing my memoir My Life in the Sunshine brought out dozens of new paternal connections including Chi’cas Reid, 73, a vocalist in Roy Ayers Ubiquity from 1975 to 1979 – the female voice you hear on Everybody Loves the Sunshine – and Henry Root, 71, Ayers’s road manager during the same period. In a video call along with 84-year-old drummer Bernard Purdie, I asked them to tell me everything about their time touring Nigeria.

Chi’cas Reid Roy’s lawyer set the tour up. I thought it was a chance – the beginning of a big career for me. Even though I’d played in different states and South America, going to Africa was a big thing. But once we got to Nigeria , we were thrown to the wolves. They took our passports.

Henry Root We were staying at the Holiday Inn – the best hotel in Lagos. The night we got there you could hear gunshots from our hotel. They were tying people to sand-filled oil drums and executing them on the beach nearby.

Bernard Purdie None of us knew what was going on – and we couldn’t leave the hotel because there were guards keeping us there.

Reid Some days we had electricity, some days we didn’t. It was like stepping back in time: people were living with mud floors, anthills were as tall as trees. Things that I’d never seen before or even seen in National Geographic.

Root On the second night, Fela had all of us out to his compound, Kalakuta. That was a crazy scene. Complete chaos.

Reid Fela was performing when we showed up. His dancers were hanging from the ceiling in cages. It was like Studio 54 but in a smaller setting.

Root He then took 28 of his 31 wives on tour with him. And they were all under 21, if not under 18.

Reid The wives were in their costumes all the time. And they dressed me up and gave me makeup. It was wild. People were smoking weed as big as cigars, man. Everyone was smoking all day all night, all the time, out in the open.

Root I was the only white guy on the tour. The night we met him, Fela told Roy to send me home because I’d get killed. And Roy gave me a choice to stay or go home. I was like, I just got here. Of course I’m staying. I had to get the equipment out of customs. A big newspaper sponsored the tour, and every day a guy from the newspaper would pick me up at the hotel and we’d go to the airport and meet with this beefy guy who wouldn’t give us the equipment. Finally on the third day, the newspaper man told me to give the man $500. I said, “Why didn’t you tell me that three days ago?!”

Reid Once it started, the tour unravelled. We felt like we were confined in a country where we didn’t have any say.

Root There was not really an itinerary. The newspaper would print where the tour was. So I’d tear a page out of the paper to find out where we were supposed to be. But I still had no idea where the cities were.

Reid A lot of the townships we visited were very strict and didn’t want us playing the music we played. They also didn’t like that Fela had all those wives.

Purdie One night on the bus, someone jumped up and told the bus driver to stop, stop! We stopped about six inches from a hole in the road from a bomb that blew the road away. It was in the middle of the night, so we couldn’t travel at night after that.

Reid We couldn’t travel in the day because people would see us, and Fela was wanted. So we had to travel very early in the morning. And the little buses they had for us, we all had to pack in, and just hold on to what we had. There were no roads. We would look down and see the trucks that had fallen off the cliff below us.

Root I only rode in the bus a couple of times when the villages we were going to were too dangerous. [On one occasion] people said there were robbers up the road who would kill anyone who stopped. But some people said this is a dangerous village, if you stop to sleep here, they’re going to come on the bus and rob you and kill you. So we have 25 adults having a serious conversation about whether we wanted to get killed on the road ahead or killed in this village. I remember saying I’d rather be moving than sitting here, so we continued driving and never saw any robbers. Those were the kinds of decisions we were making almost every day.

Purdie Every day. Every day.

Root At Kalakuta that first night, Roy and Fela had a conversation about who would headline. Fela said: “You’re my distinguished American guest, you headline.” And Roy said, “No, you drive the music market here, you headline.” They went back and forth and finally to be polite, Roy agreed to headline. Fela did a four-to-six hour show before Roy could go on and that was the last time we headlined.

Reid He played one beat all night long. All night. Like until four or five in the morning.

Purdie He’d play his horn, get tired, go sit down, and then the percussionists started playing, then he comes back a half hour later, goes at it again. I mean, it was amazing. When we finally got to another city, we realised that we could go eat or do something else instead of wait for Fela to finish his six-hour set.

Reid Once I got up on the stage I did my thing, I was good to go. They treated me like a queen. I had a good time once I was outside of the fear.

Root Every opportunity he had, Fela would go lecture at a school and I would listen to him talk about freedom and independence and how the country had been oppressed by the white people.

Reid I remember when some of the kids or the women would touch Henry’s skin or his hair. They just couldn’t believe there was a white man in their village.

Root At an outdoor amphitheatre in Kano or Kaduna, there was a riot and they turned over Fela’s bus and set it on fire the first night. And we were stupid enough to go back and play that venue a second night. Fela’s bass player comes in for sound check, and he’s got his bass guitar over one shoulder, and a bow and arrows over his other shoulder. I’m this white-bread guy, a sociology major in college, and I’m looking at these arrows. I asked what he was doing and he explained that last night people threw rocks from trees, and that if they did it again, he’d be ready.

Reid I toured Latin America with Joe Cocker, with Keith Richards in the band. That was laid back compared with this.

Root We played this huge soccer stadium that must have held 25,000 people. The stage was plywood nailed to planks set up on oil drums. The lights were fluorescent tube lamps nailed to the side of the stage. And the power was an extension cord running to the locker room across the field. The walls were three storeys high, and there was a riot outside the stadium, and the cops came and teargassed the audience. So Roy’s band is on the stage performing, and all the tear gas is coming over the wall and they’re all choking and crying.

Reid People were running everywhere, it was terrible.

Purdie I’m so glad that I didn’t know what was going on at the time. I probably would not have played if I’d known.

Root It was all crazy, single, drunk guys with no women. That was the audience.

Reid It was all men drinking beer inside the stadium, and all women selling food out on the street. And you guys protected me!

Root This big muscular guy Patrick was one of Fela’s lieutenants. He wore a black beret. One night around 4am, a bunch of military police pulled the equipment truck over. They pointed Uzis at me and the crew, and they made us take all the equipment off the truck and open all the cases. Then Patrick and his crew came screaming to a stop. Patrick jumps out of the car and runs up to the military police and he starts taking their Uzis out of their arms and throwing them on the ground and stomping on them and yelling at them for holding me up. I thought I was gonna get shot that night. We were supposed to come home for Thanksgiving.

Reid We told Roy we were leaving, but by then he’d connected with Fela to record this album together. We were all at the end of our rope. Everybody was ready to quit and fly home. Bernard and I finally decided we were getting out of there. They had taken our passports when we arrived, but I met a guy that worked at the airport. There were no sexual favours or anything, he was just so humble, and he got us our passports back. We played at a big concert hall, and we told Roy that we were leaving at 11pm. He didn’t believe us. I walked off the stage, Bernard walked off the stage, the band kept playing without us, and we went straight to the airport. When I got off the plane in New York, I kissed the ground. I weighed 40kg (90lb). I was so skinny, when my mom finally saw me she just cried because she couldn’t believe it. I never told her what we went through. Bernard had more clout than I did because he was already an established musician, so he played with Roy again. But Roy got another lady to come in and finish the recording I was working on. It was the song You Send Me. After I walked off that stage in Nigeria, I didn’t see Roy until 2017.

Root I stayed for the recording [of Music of Many Colours] at the Phonodisk studio in the middle of the jungle behind a walled compound. I knock on the door and I meet Chas Gerber, a guy from Philadelphia I’d toured with before who, it turns out, ran the studio. He told me not to leave the compound – that it was dangerous in the village because they’d burned a lady at the stake the night before for being a witch.

Reid I mean, the whole country was breathtaking. The people. The traffic. The beaches were beautiful. It was a lifetime experience and I’m grateful that I got to see the other side of the world. Now I can understand why everybody’s trying to come this way.

Root When I got back, it was probably two weeks before I could talk to my family or my girlfriend about what we’d been through. There just weren’t words to describe the feelings and emotions.

Reid It was so traumatic that I needed a break. Eventually I started doing little gigs around town. Then I hooked up with Gil Scott-Heron . But once I really, really wanted to get back into it, I wasn’t able to. I’m in a place now at peace. I have to remember that I made history, and I’m an icon. Because I put myself down for a long time after the traumatic experience I went through. But I’m grateful for people like Purdie and Henry who kept me grounded.

Root You guys were the adults in the room. Everybody else was smoking pot and crazy, and you guys were intelligent and grounded and made articulate decisions.

Purdie When you stop and think about it, we enjoyed ourselves because we were doing the music. We looked after each other throughout the whole trip, no matter what.

Reid We saved each other’s lives.

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