The musical group New Edition were honored with the 2,600th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, January 23rd. The star in the category of Recording is located at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard. Honored were group members Ronnie DeVoe, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill
Helping Emcee and Hollywood Chamber President/CEO Leron Gubler to unveil the star were producers Jimmy Jam Harris and Terry Lewis and from BET Stephen Hill. Fans traveled from around the world to celebrate the event.
For more than 30 years, New Edition has entertained audiences and is one of the most successful touring groups ever. The group has had 15 national tours, 18 multi-platinum albums, 4 American Music Awards, 14 No. 1 records and several Billboard Top 20 hits.
New Edition started in 1978 as teenagers in Boston, MA and the group hit it big with their first hit in 1893 with “Candy Girl”. Bobby Brown left the group in 1986 for a solo career and Johnny Gill who was a solo recording artist, joined the group.
In 1989, New Edition orchestrated one of music’s biggest successes by simultaneously launching Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill’s solo albums, while Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe created a high-octane group and new sound with Bell-Biv-DeVoe, which produced the 4-times platinum cross- over hit “Poison”. Bobby Brown was also leading the charts after releasing his multi platinum album “Don’t Be Cruel”after leaving the group in 1986. Between the various projects, a cumulative 30-million records were sold and altogether, the group dominated Billboard charts, MTV, VH-1, BET and stadiums across the country.
New Edition laid the foundation for the boy bands that followed. Boyz II Men, N’SYNC, The Backstreet Boys, and New Kids On The Block all took their cues from Ronnie DeVoe, Ralph Tresvant, Michael Bivins, Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell & Johnny Gill.
After 30 years on records and from the stage, New Edition finally gets their biopic. The three-part miniseries follows the group from their beginnings as kids in Boston to global mega-stardom – weathering the highs and lows of controversy, personnel changes, and the ultimate cost of fame. The New Edition story includes a collective of award-winning producers and directors including music powerhouses James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Terry Lewis and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Executive Producer Jesse Collins and award-winning director Chris Robinson.
The New Edition Story will air as a six hour, three night event on January 24, 25, and 26, 2017 at 9 PM ET/PT on BET.
We were on hand at the New Edition Hollywood Walk of Fame reception and spoke with Ronnie DeVoe.
Click on the video to see what he had to say about the star, movie , New Edition, BBD and more.
Ronnie DeVoe of New Edition at Hollywood Walk… by phyllisshnell
