Babyface playing Vegas on Mother’s Day weekend, and it’s only right
Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds had a compelling reason to relocate to Las Vegas. He was inspired by his mom.
“It was my mom’s idea to move to Vegas,” Edmonds says. “We’d come to Vegas a few times, gone to a couple casinos. She never liked to gamble, but she liked, she wanted to move somewhere, and loved the city.”
That was around 1992, when Edmonds late mother, Barbara, was retiring — or as Babyface said, “I retired her. You know how it is, the kid gets a hit, and the first thing you do is you buy your mom a car, then you buy your mom a house, and that’s what I did.”
Edmonds plays Pearl Concert Theater at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, fittingly on Mother’s Day weekend. Prior to retirement, Barbara worked at Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceuticals, helping develop human insulin. She was a Las Vegas resident until she died in 2012 at age 80 of Alzheimer’s.
That experience led to a close friendship with Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health co-founders Larry and Camille Ruvo. The couple honored Edmonds at the 2021 Keep Memory Alive Power of Love gala at Resorts World.
A couple of years ago, Edmonds was spotted hanging with the Ruvos, including at a Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns show at The Copa at Bootlegger Bistro. He had actually followed his mom’s lead and moved to Vegas himself.
“I loved coming to Vegas, and it became kind of the the place for holidays, Christmas or Thanksgiving, and spend time with her,” Edmonds says. “She could see the grandkids and we would all hang out. Everybody was there. We kind of built a life in Vegas.”
Edmonds’ career is loaded with accolades and hits, but also deceptive, the type of artist who prompts the thought, “That’s one of his songs?” The 67-year-old recording star has partnered in 26 Billboard No. 1 R&B hits, and earned hundreds of millions of streams and music sales internationally.
Edmonds produced “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” his first No. 1, and Whitney Houston’s first R&B hit. He wrote and produced Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” and “I’ll Make Love to You,” both huge top-selling hits. And he collaborated with Madonna on “Bedtime Stories,” which included the chart-topping “Take a Bow,” co-writing, co-producing and contributing vocals.
Edmonds’ live show celebrates a career in which he’s won a baker’s dozen Grammy Awards and been nominated a record 54 times. He plays a stretch of about 30 hits involving such superstars as Bobby Brown, Madonna, Beyonce, Celine Dion, Houston, Boyz II Men, Toni Braxton and Dru Hill.
Edmonds sports remarkably flashy Versace jackets and adds bonafide Vegas showgirls from Becs O’Hara’s City Katz (no relation) dance company. O’Hara, Yesi Burgess, Alyssa Sims and Elyse Corbin were featured in Edmonds’ most recent run in February.
“Yes, yes. I love that part of the show, and I think it’s it’s fun to bring that in, because it’s Vegas,” Edmonds says. ” I’ll always do that. I can’t do it anywhere else.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.