WAR awarded star on Hollywood Walk of Fame for 2025
HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME
WAR: ANNOUNCED AS CLASS OF 2025
RAVE REVIEWS FOR FIRST UK SHOW IN 16 YEARS
LAST WEEK AT ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
JULY 19TH - REISSUES OF TWO ICONIC ALBUMS
THE WORLD IS A GHETTO:
50TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR’S EDITION
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WAR’S GREATEST HITS
PRE-ORDER NOW HERE
Legendary Southern Californian band WAR have been announced this week as one of the iconic artists to be awarded their own Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2025. Their fellow luminaries in the category of Recording next year include Prince, Depeche Mode, The B-52s, Green Day, The Isley Brothers and George Strait.
It comes just days after WAR returned to the UK for the first time in sixteen years to play a very special show at the Royal Festival Hall in London as part of the Chaka Khan-curated Meltdown Festival, to a rapturous response from fans and critics alike.
War at The Royal Festival Hall, June 21st 2024: photo credit Pete Woodhead
The Daily Telegraph, in their 4 star review, claimed that the“thrilling groundbreaking 70s US funk rock troupe [got] the crowd dancing in the aisles… This is a band with real rock history: Jimi Hendrix played his last ever performance with War at Ronnie Scott’s in 1970, the night before he died. Their multi-ethnic line-up and sinuous fusion of blues, jazz, Latin and heavy rock elements rival Sly and the Family Stone for its power, potency and influence on 1970s funk, spawning hits including the steamy ‘Low Rider’ and joyous ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends?’ – the latter inspiring a smiling singalong at Meltdown… Their incredible playing, infectious enthusiasm and sinuous grooves proved irresistible”
Both ‘Low Rider’ and ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends?’ feature on the forthcoming reissue of the band’s 1976 originalGreatest Hitsalbum, which will be released on July 19thvia Rhino / Warners on CD and vinyl. On the same day, their critically acclaimed albumThe World Is A Ghetto(which was the best-selling album in America in 1973) continues its 50thAnniversary celebrations with a 4 CD box-set Collector’s Edition, complementing the release of the critically acclaimed limited edition 5-LP version from November 2023’s Record Store Day.
The World Is A Ghetto: 50th Anniversary Collector’s Editioncollection was curated by WAR’s producer, Jerry Goldstein, founding member Lonnie Jordan, and Jeremy Levine. It includes the recently remastered original album, as well as six bonus tracks and unreleased “the making of” recordings that trace the evolution of each of the six original album tracks from the first note to the master take. This is the first time they will be on CD and streaming platforms.
Today, WAR’s music provides an inexhaustible source of inspiration for R&B and hip-hop artists. Samples from four of the six songs onThe World Is A Ghettohave appeared on tracks by artists like A$AP Mob, Geto Boys, Janet Jackson, and a hip-hop supergroup featuring Method Man, Redman, and Cypress Hill.
In 1972, The World Is a Ghetto soared to the top of the Billboard album and R&B charts, becoming Billboard’s No. 1 Album of the Year for 1973, generating two gold singles, including the title track and ‘The Cisco Kid’, which shipped gold and remains WAR’s highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100. This album also marked the beginning of an extended period of creative and commercial triumph for WAR, which boasts 17 gold, platinum, or multi-platinum albums in the band’s remarkable career.
The World Is A Ghetto: 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition contains bonus tracks that were recorded during the sessions for the album and include original jams that later developed into future WAR songs. For example, versions of ‘War Is Coming’ and ‘L.A. Sunshine’ that would appear on Platinum Jazz in 1977. The liner notes were done by Jerry Goldstein and Lonnie Jordan and share insights into the “making of” recordings introduced in the set.
The original 1976 Greatest Hits collection brings together WAR’s classic collection of tracks including universal favourites ‘Why Can't We Be Friends’, ‘Low Rider’, and ‘Cisco Kid’ as well as the loved deeper cuts including ‘Gypsy Man’ and ‘Southern Part of Texas’ that demonstrate the breadth, fusion, and originality of the band’s sound and influences. It will be released on CD and vinyl.
