The Buckinghams in Concert

On August 31, Illinois music fans can be part of an exciting first in classic music history. At 7pm the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet will be the site of the inaugural Annual Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony sponsored by the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66. Twelve inaugural inductees include bands The Buckinghams, the band Chicago, Cheap Trick, The Ides of March, and REO Speedwagon, plus bluesmen Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters. Also to be honored are radio station WLS-AM, popular deejay Larry Lujack and the iconic Dick Biondi (Lifetime Achievement Award) legendary Chess Records, and venue The Thirsty Whale. This is the group originally identified as the Class of 2020, but COVID delayed the opening of the museum and Hall of Fame inauguration. A concert on August 31 will feature live performances by REO Speedwagon, Ides of March, Jimy Sohns (Shadows of Knight), Muddy Waters’ son, Mud Morganfield, New Colony 6, and the Millenials. The band Chicago and The Buckinghams ar...

/> In 1966, what are the chances that Carl Giammarese, Nick Fortuna, Dennis Tufano, Marty Grebb, and John Poulos would have ever thought that their names, faces, mementos, and music would be part of an historic exhibit housed in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois? Known as “The State of Sound: A World of Music From Illinois,” it’s most prestigious for The Buckinghams to be included in this collective. It’s fair to say that no one saw this coming. Sadly, two of the five band members are no longer with us, but both John and Marty have daughters who can see and feel the adulation of their fathers’ respective musical legacies. From 1966–1967, in the course of a year’s time, several young men from Chicago’s north side and one from the south side came together to form two bands; ultimately three members of The Centuries would come and go into The Pulsations, whose first membership also experienced comings and goings in their band. Ultimately...