Denise Truscello
Babyface performs Friday, Oct. 13, 2023, at Pearl Theater at the Palms.
Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023 | 2 a.m.
The biggest question lingering in the minds of audience members attending Babyface’s concert Friday at the Pearl Theater wasn’t whether they’d be treated to an incredible night of music.
Instead, it was whether the iconic singer-songwriter-producer would perform their favorite song of his.
With more than 200 Top 10 hits on the R&B charts and 50 Top 10 hits on the pop charts performed by any number of artists, and more than a dozen No. 1 songs of his own, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Babyface to miss someone’s favorite.
He did his best not to miss any.
Babyface and his band shoehorned nearly 40 songs into the music- and dance-filled 90-minute concert, including more than two dozen chart performers during the show’s dizzying final 40 minutes.
The concert opened with a collage of videos with artists praising the genius of Babyface, who grew up in Indiana as Kenneth Edmonds and was tagged with his moniker by funkmaster Bootsy Collins because of his youthful looks. Among those appearing in the old videos were Whitney Houston, Bruno Mars, Justin Beiber, Michael Jackson and Ariana Grande. They were just some of the who’s who in the music world that have worked with Babyface.
Backed by a seven-piece band, Babyface opened the performance with “Change the World,” a song he produced for English guitarist Eric Clapton that won the 1997 Grammy for Song of the Year.
And it just got better from there.
Shortly into the concert, the soft-spoken artist asked, “Ladies are you ready?” and jumped into “Whip Appeal,” the first of four songs from his 1989 album, “Tender Love.” The song brought the theater to its collective feet and was the first of many sing-alongs of the night. He followed it with “Tender Love” cuts “Where Will You Go,” in which Babyface, now in his mid-60s, showed he still had a piercing falsetto, “Given A Chance” and “Sunshine” which he labeled, “one of my favorites.”
Included in his setlist was “As A Matter of Fact,” Babyface’s first solo single in eight years. After its release earlier this year, it hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&B chart, giving Babyface his first No. 1 as a solo artist since he hit the top spot in 1997 with “Everytime I Close My Eyes.” “It’s a pretty song,” he said in understated fashion.
Babyface saved the real jamming, though, for the final third of the show. That’s when he and his band, with a trio of surprise cameos, presented a series of 27 of Babyface’s chartbusters he wrote or produced for a bevy of artists, from Johnny Gill to Dru Hill to Bobby Brown to Toni Braxton to Boyz II Men, among others.
Leading off the set was “Superwoman,” which Babyface started, then handed off to Chante Moore, whose high-energy performance earned a standing ovation. Later on, Edmonds’ brother, Kevon, joined him for the After 7 hit, “Can’t Stop,” and then multi-Grammy nominee Tank joined the party for Gill’s “My, My, My.”
The singers came together on a powerful rendition of the Boyz II Men classic, “I’ll Make Love to You,” before Babyface ended the night with a salute to Houston and their 1996 collaborative effort, “Exhale (Shoop, Shoop).”
When the dust cleared, Babyface may not have sung all of his hits, but he delivered a show with plenty of hits.
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