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Former Styx singer to perform at Meadows

3 min read
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It might be hard to believe, but Dennis DeYoung, a founding member and former singer and keyboardist of classic rock legends Styx, is surprised that people still want to see him perform live concerts.

“It sounds crazy, but people thank me for coming out to perform in their areas,” De-Young said with a laugh from his Chicago home.

“Most 70-year-olds like me aren’t supposed to get the attention that I get. But, it also shows how much the music meant to their lives.”

Fans can relive those classic Styx songs when DeYoung and his backing band perform the music of Styx at The Meadows Casino at 8 p.m. June 2.

“I’ve put together a band that brings back the spirit of Styx,” DeYoung said. “There’s a lot of me in the show, so I tell people if you don’t like me, don’t come to the show.”

DeYoung found his way into the public eye when Styx released its debut record in 1972. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, DeYoung and Styx sold out arenas worldwide and became radio staples with hits like “Lady,” “Babe,” “Come Sail Away,” “Renegade,” and “Too Much Time On My Hands.”

All told, DeYoung and Styx had four consecutive multi-platinum albums, 16 Top 40 singles and eight Top 10 singles.

“I lived in the greatest time for musicians,” DeYoung said. “Styx was so unique and did a lot of different things. We weren’t bound by any formulas, and nothing we did was ever calculated.

“Each album was reflective of our personalities on the record. People became fascinated and absorbed by music, and they looked to guys like me to entertain them.”

By the late ’80s, changing musical trends and tensions within the band forced De-Young in and out of Styx, and by the early ’90s, DeYoung and Styx had fallen on hard times. So, DeYoung turned to Broadway.

He couldn’t get a record deal in the ’90s because “everyone smelled like wet flannel,” he said, recalling the grunge era. “I didn’t have a job, so on a lark I performed with singer Irene Cara in a production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’ It was a killer cast, and I thought I should write something like this.”

DeYoung would later write a musical version of the classic tale “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” which would win the Joseph Jefferson Award for best musical in Chicago in 2008.

“I wrote a Styx song in 1981 called ‘Nothing Ever Goes As Planned,'” DeYoung joked. “That’s been the story of my life.”

Despite the success of performing classic show tunes, being a rocker and performing classic Styx songs as accurately as possible still appeal to DeYoung.

“It’s contradictory and arrogant to want to change classic songs,” he said. “You work feverishly to make a song successful. You should fall on your knees and thank the universe that it actually happened.”

DeYoung also is quick to thank his fans for supporting him over the years.

“It’s not about money for me,” he said. “Finally, there’s an acknowledgement that musicians who have been making music for the past 40 years were doing something good. It’s nice to see that.”

Ticket prices start at $29.95. For more information about the concert, go online to www.meadowsgaming.com/.entertainment/special-events.

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