IT’S TIME TO COME TOGETHER

Kool & the Gang’s Robert “Kool” Bell has been in a celebratory groove for more than 60 years.

When a band creates songs that become celebratory staples guaranteed to fill the dance floor with both young and old, it’s easy to think that everything just magically fell into place. But Kool & the Gang, which will be taking the stage at Ravinia Festival on August 27, built their legendary sound through hard work, touring, and dedication to songcraft and elite musicianship.

The band’s sound drew from genres like jazz, funk, disco, and pop, creating one of the deepest catalogs in American pop music history. Career highlights include multiple Grammy and American Music Awards, 31 gold and platinum albums, their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.

Decades after they got their start, co-founding bassist Robert “Kool” Bell, now 75, still brims with excitement when he talks about his musical journey. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Bell marvels at the role he and his late brother, Ron, played in kick-starting what is now the longest-running R&B band.

“Most of the [band’s] original members were into jazz,” Bell recalls, thinking back to the group’s beginnings, when he was just 14 years old. Influences included John Coltrane, Ron Carter, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, and Cannonball Adderley. But the group quickly found its own sound and began playing up and down the East Coast.

They struck chart gold straight out of the gate. “The first record came out on July 3, 1969. It was called Kool & the Gang, of course, and the single was called ‘Kool & the Gang,’ and it made the Top 40 on the Billboard chart. So, that was the beginning. I said, ‘We might have a shot at this.'”

It was just the start of a historic run. In 1973, seeking more hits, the band’s label had set them up with a producer du jour, but they weren’t feeling it. “So, we went into the studio in downtown New York from about eight in the morning to midnight. When we came outta that studio, we had created ‘Jungle Boogie,’ ‘Hollywood Swinging,’ and ‘Funky Stuff.’ No more complaints from the record company,” Bell jokes. Kool & the Gang proceeded to dominate the charts through the ’70s with songs on two of the biggest soundtracks of the era—Rocky (“Summer Madness”) and Saturday Night Fever (“Open Sesame”).

The band was touring with the Jacksons in the late ’70s when producer Dick Griffey suggested the band needed a singer like the Commodores or Earth, Wind & Fire. “And that’s when we decided to bring J.T. into the band,” Bell says. “We didn’t audition a lot of singers. In fact, he was the only one.”

With J.T. on vocals, Kool & the Gang sprinkled pixie dust on everything—”Celebration,” “Get Down on It,” “Ladies Night,” “Cherish,” and “Joanna” became global sensations woven into the culture of the late ’70s and ’80s: “Celebration” was played when the American hostages returned from Iran; the band was the only American group to participate in Band Aid’s 1984 “Do They Know It’s Christmas” song for famine victims in Africa; and they played East Berlin right before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

As hip-hop began to dominate culture, young artists turned to Kool & the Gang for source material, leading to more than 1,800 samples. Chicago played its part—a DJ from WVON was the first to play “Summer Madness” on air. The hit song later served as the basis of Will Smith’s smash single “Summertime.”

“We’ve been blessed,” says Bell, reflecting on how his group has influenced music and culture. And now, a new version of “Celebration” will be featured on the upcoming America’s Soundtrack album commemorating the semiquincentennial.

It’s the kind of party where another of Bell’s pursuits—Le Kool Champagne, “The Celebration of Champagne”—is sure to be served. A lover of Champagne, Kool had always dreamed about having his own brand crafted from grapes grown in France’s famed Champagne region. “I joke about this sometimes. It was like the Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America—Le Kool Champagne. The country boy from Youngstown, Ohio, coming to America out of Épernay and Reims.”

That self-proclaimed country boy has done more than good. He and his bandmates built something legendary. And that’s worth celebrating.

For more information, visit ravinia.org.