Athens residents and Ohio University students will have the chance to “get saxy” Friday night.
Professional saxophone player Kenny G will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium as part of the OU Performing Arts and Concert Series. All tickets are $35.
Kenny G will close out the Main Series, Andrew Holzaepfel, senior associate director of student activities, said.
“Even though Kenny G is an icon, he has never been to Athens,” Holzaepfel said in an email. “We thought he would be a great addition to the series.”
Kenny G has global record sales totalling more than $75 million. Seven of his 23 albums have reached No. 1 on the music charts, and he has been performing for three decades.
He has been nominated for 16 Grammys and won once for Best Instrumental Composition in 1994 for “Forever in Love.”
Kenny G has two top-10 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart: “Songbird” peaked at No. 4 in 1987 and “Auld Lang Syne” hit No. 7 in 2000. He has more than 400,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and his most-played song is “Songbird” with almost 10 million streams.
Kenny G has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the music industry including Michael Bolton and Whitney Houston. In 2011, Kenny G was featured on Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F),” and can be seen in the video showing off his saxophone skills.
Tickets for the concert are selling very quickly, with mostly the top of the balcony available. Holzaepfel expects mostly Athens residents for the show, but knows of students who are excited too.
Jason Martini, a fifth-year art major, is a big fan of Kenny G and would like to see him live. He said “The Moment” is his favorite song.
Sean McGovern, a senior studying biochemistry, said Kenny G is a legend and likes “Songbird” because it is the artist’s most iconic song. McGovern would love to see Kenny G perform live.
“He inspires me and gives me confidence to talk to the ladies,” McGovern said.
Kevin Pan contributed to this report.
