War
R&B/Soul
The next War concert is scheduled for Friday, May 2, 2025 at LA County Fair in Pomona, CA, United States. See all 24 upcoming concerts
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About War
Artist Biography
The LA soul-funk band War were responsible for seven Top 10 hits in the 1970s, including âLow Rider,â plus the best-selling album of 1973, The World Is a Ghetto.
âĒ The musicians comprising War first played together in various Los Angeles-area bands in the â60s, including one called Nightshift that backed the football star Deacon Jones.
âĒ In 1969, former Animals singer Eric Burdon joined up with Nightshift members Howard E. Scott, Lee Oskar, Thomas âPapa Deeâ Allen, Charles Miller, B.B. Dickerson, Lonnie Jordan, and Harold Ray Brown. They began performing as War, and their first album, 1970âs Eric Burdon Declares âWarâ, went Top 20 and yielded the No. 3 single âSpill the Wine.â
âĒ Warâs first performance in London, in September 1970, was also Jimi Hendrixâs last. The guitar legend sat in with the group the night before his death.
âĒ Burdon bowed out of War after a debilitating asthma attack while on tour in Europe, though they had already recorded a second album. The Black-Manâs Burdon came out late in 1970.
âĒ With Burdon out of the picture, War released a self-titled album 1971 that barely cracked the Billboard 200 albums chart. Later that year, War released All Day Music, the first of four consecutive gold albums, all of which went Top 20.
âĒ Warâs fifth album, 1972âs The World Is a Ghetto, spent 68 weeks on Billboard 200, including two at No. 1. The album included a pair of Top 10 hits: the title track reached No. 7, while âThe Cisco Kidâ peaked at No. 2.
âĒ Two of Warâs most popular songs came from their 1975 LP Why Canât We Be Friends: the title track reached No. 6, and âLow Riderâ made it to No. 7.
âĒ After releasing the poorly performing 1976 LP Love Is All Around, a collection of previously unreleased songs recorded with Burdon in the bandâs early years, War returned to the Top 20 with another 1976 album, Platinum Jazz (No. 6), and 1977âs Galaxy (No. 15).
âĒ War were beset by line-up changes and declining commercial fortunes in the â80s, when their highest charting album was 1982âs Outlaw, which stalled out at No. 48.
âĒ In a nod to Warâs influence on hip-hop, the band approved the 1992 compilation Rap Declares War, featuring samples of Warâs music in songs by De La Soul, The Beastie Boys, Too $hort, and Brand Nubian, among others.
âĒ In 2008, Burdon reunited with Warâfeaturing Jordan as the lone original memberâonstage in London. It was their first performance together since 1970. Jordanâs new version of War released the album Evolutionary in 2014.
Hometown
Long Beach, CA, United States
Genre
R&B/Soul
Members of War
War was formed in 1969. Members of War include, or have included, the following 22 members.
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