Full circle with Frankie Beverly

With a soulful sound and a particular look rooted in our shared adult culture, Frankie Beverly is definitively associated with summer – then, now and without end. The music for Maze featuring Frankie Beverly is the soundtrack to warm twilights spent wandering local back streets, windows down and speakers on. Beverly’s voice brings back memories of late afternoons when she sat in a sunny corner of the massive family’s spacious backyard, eavesdropping on discussions about “adult matters” within the refrigerator while the smell of an lively grill filled the air. The group’s songs conjure up muscle memories of an electrical slide on freshly mowed grass, a Soul Train line within the lounge, and slow dances under the celebs.

It is subsequently no surprise that the legendary performer returns to the height of summer, the ESSENCE Cultural Festival, on the occasion of our thirtieth anniversary. He will receive flowers as a legacy artist and can rule for the last time the scene he helped construct from its beginnings.

“I haven’t been on the ESSENCE stage for a while, but it’s nice to be asked back,” says Beverly before her final performance at our festival. The singer and his iconic band finished acting on Sunday night at our inaugural music festival in 1995 – and each 12 months for the subsequent 14 years. Now they can be honored on the identical stage for all they’ve contributed to this culture. “When ESSENCE contacted us and wanted to honor me, I really couldn’t say no,” states Beverly. “We have a long and rich history. The ESSENCE festival is an important part of my career.”

An illustrious profession, punctuated by nine Gold-certified albums and multiple R&B chart entries, took place on stages around the globe. Dressed front and center in all-white underwear and accompanied by the legendary Maze, Frankie Beverly dazzled audiences on dozens of tours over greater than five many years. Since 1970, Beverly has been baring his “Raw Soul” on stage, and his clear, soulful vocals at all times accompany the live band. Their sound shaped the very concept of soul, for the millennial generation and beyond. However, Beverly’s adventure as a performer began much earlier.

“I grew up in church and loved singing even as a child,” he says of his upbringing in Philadelphia. “My grandparents loved hearing me sing. It took root and I wanted to sing all the time.” This desire led him to form his own doo-wop group, Blenders, when he was a teen. Later he began collaborating with the band The Butlers. A move to California, a reputation change to Raw Soul, and a probability meeting led to the band’s formation while on tour with Marvin Gaye. At Gaye’s astute suggestion, the group eventually modified its name to Maze.

There’s no way Frankie Beverly and Maze could have predicted that when he and his bandmates first took the stage, the many years of unforgettable moments they’d create together. But Beverly at all times knew that when he sang, he was at home.

From his early years as a recording artist, Beverly has created anthems that resonate. From 1977’s “Happy Feelin’s” to 1980’s “Joy and Pain” to perhaps his most enduring hit, 1981’s “Before I Let Go,” Beverly’s music has at all times conveyed elation, disappointment and mixed emotions related to finding and losing love. His music stays as powerful now because it was within the Nineteen Seventies, and tickets to his shows remain in high demand for many years. “I think my music has remained consistent over the generations because God blessed me to write music from the heart and not following the latest trends,” the singer reflects. “It remains relevant regardless of generation.”

Funny enough, there is a phenomenon of people that, although they’ve known “Before I Let Go” all their lives as a licensed culinary classic, have never actually stopped to take heed to its lyrics. As crowds stroll through predetermined line dance steps and lift their voices in unison with Beverly’s smooth baritone at key moments, many have missed that this is definitely an anthem about ending a relationship; told from the angle of a person saying a bittersweet goodbye to the lady he loves, mourning the connection and still not quite sure why they couldn’t work out. But in that case few actually realize what this song is about, why can we all adore it a lot?

“Because this is real life!” Beverly replies. “Sometimes you’re just too young to understand the lyrics but not the music [still] will get you on your feet to dance.”

Indeed, the sound of Frankie Beverly & Maze brings everyone to their feet – from toddlers who’ve just regained their balance in recent months, to seniors whose feet have carried them across many dance floors through many years of celebration.

“Like I said, I’m not giving up on my music,” says Beverly. “I can’t say why it appeals to all generations, but I believe God has made a way for my music to reach every generation.”

Beverly’s music has survived the emergence of latest genres, the decline of print media, and the shift to streaming services, and it’s going to definitely endure irrespective of what the subsequent phase of musical innovation is. However, the 77-year-old singer selected 2024 because the 12 months to say goodbye to live performances.

His departure from the stage marks the top of an era defined by our aunts, uncles and peers flocking to stadiums and amphitheaters wearing all-white linen to emulate the signature look of Frankie Beverly and Maze. They were able to sip wine, link arms and sing classics along with the titan of soul – and, as his silky vocals urged, “feel that happy feeling.”

But, as Beverly assures us, this goodbye isn’t without end. Although he’ll not be touring, the group can be renamed Maze Honoring Frankie Beverly – and he says he may stop by now and again to remain in contact with his bandmates and the legion of loyal fans he says have faithfully showered him with love and blessings for over 50 years.

“Music is who I am,” he explains. “I’ve never done anything else. Music is the love of my life. You won’t get out of love.”