VH1 hosted the first annual VH1 Divas concert in 1998. VH1 Divas Live was created to support the channel's Save The Music Foundation and subsequent concerts in the series have also benefited that foundation. The VH1 Divas concerts were a follow-up to the channel's annual VH1 Honors benefit concert that ran from 1994 to 1997, airing annually from 1998 to 2004.[1] After a five-year hiatus, the series returned in 2009 with a younger-skewed revamp. In 2010 the concert saluted the troops and in 2011 it celebrated soul music, doubling the previous year's ratings. After a dance music-focused 2012 edition aired live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on December 16, 2012, the show took another hiatus before being revived on December 5, 2016, at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York with a holiday theme and achieved its highest ratings in over a decade.[2]
Mariah Carey's band:Randy Jackson – bass; Gigi Gonaway – drums; Vernon Black – guitar; Andrew Sherman – keyboards; Michael Mcknight – programmer; Juliet Haffner – viola; Laura Seaton, Andre E. Stien, Peter M. Weimar – violins; Marquino Brazil – percussion; Melonie Daniels, Nicki Richards, Sherry Mcghee, Mary Ann Tatum – background vocals
Gloria Estefan's band: Jorge Casa – bass; Clay Ostwald – keyboards; Tim Mitchell, René Toledo – guitars; Olin Burgos – drums; Randy Barlow – trombone and trumpet; Teddy Mulet, Douglas Michaels – trumpet; Kenny Anderson, Tom Timko – saxes/reeds; Rita Quintero, Juan "Chieto" Quiñonez, George Noriega, Donna Allen – vocals
Shania Twain's band: Brent Barcus – guitar; Andrew Cichon – bass; James Blair – drums; Cory Churko, Allison Cornell – mandolin and fiddle; Marc D. Muller – pedal steel; Hardy Hempill – keyboards
Aretha Franklin's band:H.B. Barnum – conductor; David Rokeach – drums; Francisco Centeno – bass; Teddy Richards – guitar; Richard Gibbs – piano; Darryll Houston – organ; Byron Strippling, Glenn Drews, Jorge Arciniega – trumpet; Robert Trowers, Larry Farrell, Keith O'Quinn – trombone; Lawrence Feldman, Dave Tofani, Ernie Fields Jr., Roger Rosenberg – sax; Mae Kohn, Diana Madison, William Moore – background vocals; Jaqui Whitman – tambourine; Michael Beardon – keyboards; Joe Passaro – percussion
Celine Dion's band: Claude "Mégo" Lemay – keyboards; Dominique Messier – drums; Ives "Ivo" Frulla – keyboards; André Coutu – guitars; Paul Picard – percussion; Élise Dugay - background vocals and tin whistle; Terry Bradford, Julie LeBlanc – background vocals
Aretha's band was used for her duet with Mariah Carey ("Chain of Fools") and the finale ("A Natural Woman" and "Testimony").
VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross – An Honors Concert for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation was the first of three concerts in the series not aired live. It was recorded on April 9, 2000 at New York's Madison Square Garden and first aired on April 11, 2000. Diana Ross requested the concert be recorded as time constraints for the airing of commercials would not allow enough time for her to change costumes. The well-received show took a mammoth 6 hours to record. This special also marked the re-introduction of Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne as Supremes, who were touring with Diana Ross. Laurence and Payne were Supremes during the 1970s.
The concert was never released on CD or DVD. Two of the songs were released as b-sides of singles from Mariah Carey and Destiny's Child.
VH1 Divas Live/2000 a Tribute to Diana Ross' (2000)
VH1 Divas Las Vegas (2001)
VH1 Divas Las Vegas: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live from the MGM Grand Las Vegas on May 23, 2002. For the first time, Divas Live broadcast from a city other than New York. This time around, Las Vegas played host city to the fifth Divas concert.
After being invited by Whitney Houston in 1999, an appearance that gave her big publicity worldwide, Mary J. Blige asked her friend to join her on Divas three years later to perform together her song "Rainy Dayz".
A CD/DVD of the concert was released later that year, but not all the performances or performers (most notably those of co-headliner Mary J. Blige) were included, due to various record label issues.
The Divas – "You Shook Me All Night Long (reprise)" – Not released on CD or DVD
VH1 Divas Duets
VH1 Divas Duets: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live from the MGM Grand Las Vegas on May 22, 2003.
Summary
Chaka Khan, Beyoncé, Lisa Marie Presley, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Jewel, Ashanti, Sharon Osbourne, Aisha Tyler, Stevie Wonder, Pat Benatar, Shania Twain, Bobby Brown and the Isley Brothers joined host Queen Latifah when "VH1 Divas Duets: A Benefit Concert for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation" aired live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Thursday, May 22 at 9:00pm (ET/PT). Tarralyn Ramsey was the winner of VH!'s reality competition Born to Diva and performed on stage with the Divas as well.
Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé, Chaka Khan, Jewel, Ashanti and Queen Latifah – "Higher Ground"
VH1 Divas 2004
VH1 Divas: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live from the MGM Grand Las Vegas on April 18, 2004.
The show marks the first appearance of close friends and R&B and soul legends Patti LaBelle (who was told by producers she would be considered "top dog" [17]) and Gladys Knight after they had turned down previous offers to appear. Gladys could never stay for the finale due to obligations with her one-woman show at the famed Flamingo Las Vegas. Kylie Minogue was originally confirmed as a headliner for the 1980s themed show, but withdrew shortly after.
VH1 Divas: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live on September 17, 2009, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, New York. Paula Abdul hosted and performed. This concert was never released on CD or DVD.
Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj performing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" at VH1 Divas Salute The Troops.
VH1 Divas Salute The Troops was the second of the three concerts in the series not aired live. It was recorded on Friday, December 3, 2010, at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar while Paramore was filmed earlier in the week at Army Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. The special first aired on Sunday, December 5, 2010 and broadcast internationally by the Armed Forces Network.[18][19]
VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul was the third of three concerts in the series not aired live. It was taped on December 18, 2011, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City,[23] and aired the next evening on VH1, paying tribute to the places that helped create or contributed to soul music: Chicago, Detroit, London, Philadelphia and Memphis.[24]
Anita Baker, who was going to sing with Jill Scott, had to drop out moments before the concert after disagreements with producers,[25] allowing Marsha Ambrosius and Ledisi to step in and perform in their places during the Detroit medley.[26]Kelly Clarkson twisted her ankle on the way into the concert, though she still performed as planned.
Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings – "He Said I Can" – Not aired in television broadcast
VH1 Divas 2012
VH1 Divas 2012 aired live on December 16, 2012 from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The show was hosted by Adam Lambert and celebrated the dance-inducing music that is the vibrant soundtrack to every major blowout bash, unforgettable party and night out on the town. The show also paid tribute to the late music legends who died earlier that year: Whitney Houston and Donna Summer.
VH1 Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night was recorded on December 2, 2016, at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn, airing December 5, 2016.[27] The concert was a holiday-themed celebration of music and pop-culture's greatest divas. The lineup included 'the Queen of Christmas' Mariah Carey, who returned to the Divas stage after 16 years for her third appearance, and Mariah's godmother, the iconic Patti LaBelle. Teyana Taylor and Vanessa Williams made debut appearances on the VH1 Divas stage, while the legendary Chaka Khan returned for her fourth time.[28] The concert was the highest rated VH1 Divas broadcast in over a decade.
"I'm Every Woman" with Patti LaBelle, Teyana Taylor, JoJo, Bebe Rexha, Serayah, Diana Gordon & Remy Ma
Legacy and impact
Saturday Night Live performers Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri frequently spoofed Dion, Twain and Carey, most memorably in the opening moments of Divas '99 where they portrayed the songstresses attempting to order a pizza before watching the concert. On February 10, 2001, Jennifer Lopez starred in an SNL skit where she battled Mango onstage at VH1 Divas, with Tracy Morgan as Franklin, Maya Rudolph as Diana Ross, and Gasteyer and Shannon both reprising their impressions of Dion and Twain respectively.
Many of the featured performers are satirized as characters on the popular webparodyGot 2B Real.[29]
In 2022, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex had Carey as a guest on the second episode of her podcast Archetypes, mentioning in her interview how influential the original concert was on her and her high school classmates.[32]
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