How to go
What: The 18th annual Celebrity Concert for Charity with Ronnie Milsap and B.J. Thomas
Where: Fraze Pavilion, 695 Lincoln Park Blvd., Kettering
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Cost: $33-$46
More info: 937-296-3300 or www.fraze.com
Ronnie Milsap is one of the most successful singers in the history of country music. The North Carolina native — headlining the 18th Celebrity Concert for Charity at Fraze Pavilion in Kettering on Saturday — has scored 40 No. 1 hits.
Milsap hit the top spot on the country charts a dozen times in the 1970s. However, his most successful period was the 1980s. He scored 10 straight No. 1 hits between 1980 and 1982 and eight consecutive No. 1’s between 1985 and 1987.
Milsap was recently inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, but the 72-year-old singer, who has been blind since birth, isn’t ready to retire. He was home in Nashville recently when he answered some questions over the telephone.
Q: You had an amazing series of hits in the 1980s. To what do you attribute that success?
A: "That was a great run. That was back in the days of Joe Galante, the head of RCA Records. He was really a big influence on me. He was the boss. He really knew what he wanted, he knew how to run the label and he knew what he wanted the artist to do. If you didn't measure up, he'd damn well tell you, but if you did what he asked you to do you'd have another No. 1 record."
Q: I saw some reports saying this is your farewell tour. Is that true?
A: "No, that's a manipulation from management and other folks who think they know more about that than I do. That's fine, but I'm still in the thick of it. There's nothing else I love like music and recording and performing. I love playing with the band, and I'm glad we're coming back to Kettering. When people see us perform, it'll be obvious why I love to do what I do."
Q: What’s next for you?
A: "We're looking for new things to do. I was with my record producer yesterday looking for songs. We're trying to put together a new album that's different enough. I've got to find new ways to rekindle the career, because I'm not going to retire. I don't know what I'd do. I don't know how to do anything else, and I don't want to do anything else, so I keep doing this and hoping that God will show me a direction and we'll find another great song. That's my life's work. That's what I'm here for."
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