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Airrion Love

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Airrion Love
Background information
Born (1949-10-08) October 8, 1949 (age 75)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
GenresPhiladelphia soul, R&B
OccupationSinger
InstrumentVocals
DiscographyThe Stylistics discography
Years active1960s–present
Member ofThe Stylistics
Formerly ofThe Monarchs

Airrion Love (born October 8, 1949[1][2][3]) is a baritone singer, who is a founding member of The Stylistics.[4] He formed The Stylistics in 1968, and is still in the group as of 2024. Love shared lead vocals with Russell Thompkins Jr. on their Grammy-nominated[5] song "You Make Me Feel Brand New".

Early life

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Love was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and still lives there today.[6] Airrion said he knew he wanted to be a singer since he was a child, and would sing all the time throughout his childhood was in Glee club and a Choir in junior high.[7][8] Love was a computer programmer when the Stylistics' first single was released.[9] He handed in his notice to the company when they started getting more bookings.

Career

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Airrion Love, on the left, performing on Soul Train in 1974

Arrion was in the group The Monarchs with Russell Thompkins Jr. and James Smith. Their rival group, The Percussions, who they had beat at a talent show at Benjamin Franklin High School,[10] had disbanded around the same time they had, and after their English teacher, Beverly Hamilton, suggested the two merge together, Love, Smith, and Thompkins joined Herb Murrell and James Dunn from The Percussions to become The Stylistics.[11][12][13]

Their first song, "You're a Big Girl Now", went to no. 7 in the US in 1970.[14] They then signed to Avco Records in 1971, and were produced by Thom Bell.[15] From 1971 to 1974, they had twelve consecutive top ten hits in the U.S., and throughout the 1970s had ten top ten hits in the U.K (including a number one).[16]

Their hits from this period — distilled from three albums — included "Betcha by Golly, Wow" (U.S. No. 3), "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up to Make Up" (U.S. No. 5), "You Make Me Feel Brand New" featuring Thompkins singing a lead vocal duet with Airrion Love, "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)", "You Are Everything"[12] and the Top 20 pop chart hit "Rockin' Roll Baby" (U.S. No. 14). "You Make Me Feel Brand New",[14] the group's biggest U.S. hit, holding at No. 2 for two weeks in 1974, was one of the group's five U.S. gold singles.

Love has appeared on show such as Soul Train, Top of the Pops, The Midnight Special, The Mike Douglas Show, Showtime at the Apollo, The Vera Lynn Show, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Saturday Night Live, The Dinah Shore Show, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, and Your Hit Parade,

Airrion leads the Stylistics to this day with Herb Murrell.[12] Although the two had started out in rival groups, Love and Murrell have known each other since 1963.[9] The Stylistics have done tours of the UK almost yearly, and in 2014, Love had thoughts of the group having a residency there.[13]

Awards

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Between January 1972 and August 1974, five of The Stylistics' songs and three albums were certified gold in the U.S.[17] Their song, "You Make Me Feel Brand New", was nominated for a Grammy award for the "Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus" category at the 17th Annual Grammy Awards in 1975.[5] Love was inducted into Philadelphia Music Allience Walk of Fame as a member of the Stylistics in 1994,[11][18] and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.[19][20][21]

References

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  1. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  2. ^ "Celebrity birthdays for the week of Oct. 3-9". The Independent. October 9, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  3. ^ mgocustom (October 6, 2024). "Happy 75th Birthday to The Stylistics leader Airrion Love". SoulTracks. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  4. ^ "Our Birthday tribute to The Stylistics leader Airrion Love". SoulTracks – Soul Music Biographies, News and Reviews. October 7, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Airrion Love". grammy.com. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  6. ^ Woolley, Ian (August 28, 2023). "Staying In 'Love' With the Philly Sound – The Stylistics". Beat Magazine. UK. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  7. ^ "Airrion Love Back On Tour With The Stylistics". entssouthwales. November 20, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  8. ^ Bushell, Garry (July 9, 2023). "Class never goes out of style – The Stylistics thank 'enthusiastic' British fans". Daily Express. London. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Neal, Martin (October 21, 2019). "Airrion is still turning on the style with The Stylistics". Essex Live. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  10. ^ "Russell Thompkins Jr. and The New Stylistics". BlogTalkRadio. June 19, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "The Stylistics | Walk of Fame | Philadelphia Music Allience". Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c "The Stylistics | Biography". stylistics-copy. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Mixcloud". www.mixcloud.com. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  14. ^ a b The Stylistics at AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  15. ^ Jackson, John A. (2004). A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514972-2.
  16. ^ "Stylistics". Official Charts. June 24, 1972. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  18. ^ "Walk of Fame". Philadelphia Music Alliance. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  19. ^ "New Stylistics Bio". thereachfoundation.org. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  20. ^ "The Stylistics – The Vocal Group Hall of Fame". Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  21. ^ Woolley, Ian (August 13, 2024). "Stylistics Still Have The Moves". Beat Magazine. UK. Retrieved September 27, 2024.

Other pages

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