With nine certified Gold albums under their belt, the legendary Frankie Beverly and Maze has provided the soundtrack of Black nostalgia for over five decades. Whether in the living room on a Sunday morning, at the cookout in the middle of the Summer, or at the annual family reunion, Frankie Beverly has crooned his way into our hearts and households for generations. Born in Philadelphia, and raised in the church, Frankie grew up loving to sing. As a teenager, he started a doo-wop group called The Blenders, but then decided to merge with a band instead, and formed The Butlers where he was the lead singer. They eventually moved to California and rebranded as Raw Soul, which was when they landed an opportunity to open for Marvin Gaye. That one opening performance changed the trajectory of their career. Gaye made the suggestion that they change the band name to Maze, and well…the rest is history. Frankie Beverly and Maze have helped us to navigate our joy, and our pain, taught us that we deserve to feel that happy feelin’, and to spread joy all over the world because, through it all, we are one. But in 1981, it was their hit “Before I Let Go” that transformed itself into a national anthem of Black culture, and Black Joy.
Frankie Beverly and Maze have a special connection to the Essence Festival of Music and Culture, and the city of New Orleans. So much so, that growing up there I thought they were from New Orleans and I didn’t find out they weren’t until adulthood. Frankie is lovingly and appropriately nicknamed “The Godfather of Essence”. Not only were they the closing act for the inaugural Essence Music Festival in 1995, but they continued to close out the festival for fifteen consecutive years. It became an unsaid tradition, to show up on Sunday night, ready to electric slide the night away, in your finest of white linen, as a nod to Frankie’s favorite on-stage signature look. So it’s no coincidence that while on his “farewell” tour, his story came full circle at the 30th anniversary of the Essence Festival of Music and Culture where he received his flowers and more.
This past Sunday evening, Maze feat. Frankie Beverly graced the Essence mainstage for one final time. In pure Essence tradition, the show ended with a tribute to the band who closed out the festival for its first consecutive fifteen years, establishing themselves as a staple of the Essence Festival and the local community. The 2024 Essence Festival’s Sunday evening tribute was curated by the one and only Brian Michael Cox, which included a musical lineup of Bilal, Lil Mo, Anthony Hamilton, and New Orleans native Luke James. Fellow Essence Festival veteran Doug E. Fresh introduced the tribute, which was also followed up by acknowledgments from Mayor Latoya Cantrell, State Senator Royce Duplessis, and Former New Orleans Mayor and President of the National Urban League Marc Morial.
Our beloved Uncle Frankie is currently 77 years old and although he is retiring from regularly touring and performing onstage, he says this isn’t goodbye. The band is rebranding as Maze Honoring Frankie Beverly with new lead singer and 11-time Grammy winner Tony Lindsay, but Frankie vows to pop in from time to time to stay connected to his fans and musical family.
Frankie Beverly has created a legacy of timeless art that connects us in ways we can only explain through the way his music continues to make us feel. He is and will continue to be the background music to the Black experience and we will forever show up and show out, in all white, while speaking his name, and singing his songs, in the rooms with legends for generations to come. After the morning after, and until the golden time of day.
