David Gest’s final tour to go ahead with tributes to him and Billy Paul
The ‘David Gest Is Not Dead but Alive With Soul Tour’ is to go ahead in tribute to the late star.
In the weeks before his shock death at the age of 62 on April 12, David had been busy organizing a spectacular soul tour of the UK which was to feature performances from music legends Russell Thompkins Jr, Deniece Williams, Peabo Bryson, The Tymes, Freda Payne, Melba Moore, Anita Ward, Fern Kinney and Billy Paul – who passed away at his home in Blackwood, New Jersey, on Sunday (24.04.16) at the age of 81.
Now David’s close friend Imad Handi has been given permission by the deceased ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ star’s lawyers to press ahead with the shows which will see ‘Band of Gold’ singer Freda take on David’s compere role for the concerts.
Imad – who has co-produced David’s tours for several years – hopes fans will come out to pay their respects to the concert promoter and celebrate his incredible life.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "Just like myself, all the artists were devastated when they learned David had died. Over the years they had become like a family together due to their close working relationship and the musicians were determined to go ahead with the tour to remember David with their music.
"Although he was known for his reality TV appearances in the UK, he lived for hosting gigs and his soul reviews were always the highlight of his year. I did think about changing the name of the tour but then I decided to keep it as it is in keeping with David’s mischievous sense of humor. And also it’s true, he may sadly be gone but his spirit is alive in the music he loved."
There will musical tributes to David – who was life-long pals with Michael Jackson – with The Tymes performing his favorite ever song ‘Ms. Grace’ and Peabo will deliver a rendition of his track ‘Missing You’ for his late friend.
Following the sad news of ‘Me and Mrs Jones’ singer Billy’s death there are plans in place to remember him with a performance by the acts on the bill.
Imad said: "Billy is such a big loss to music and was a great friend of David’s. I’ve spoken with all the acts and we definitely plan to remember our departed friend with a song."
