Legendary Philadelphia International Records co-founders and R&B pioneers Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff received the 2016 Marian Anderson Award during recent gala at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Their co-honoree was lifelong friend and fellow Philadelphia R&B legend Patti LaBelle, whose heralded solo career as “The Godmother of Soul” was launched at Gamble & Huff’s historic label, Philadelphia International Records, as one of the Sound of Philadelphia’s foremost recording artists.
This was the first year since 2008 that the Marian Anderson Award has been awarded to multiple recipients and the first year the Marian Anderson Award has partnered with The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia’s world-class performing arts campus.
The Marian Anderson Award was created to celebrate critically acclaimed artists who have used their talents for personal artistic expression and whose bodies of work have contributed to our society in a singular manner. It is named in memory of the legendary singer and distinguished Philadelphian, Marian Anderson.
Gamble & Huff launched Philadelphia International Records in 1970 and exemplify R&B music in Philadelphia. They went on to write pop and R&B #1 hits, numerous gold and platinum records, as well as Grammy Award-winning songs and are BMI songwriters award honorees. In addition to their musical successes, Gamble & Huff have led the charge on various charitable efforts. Mr. Gamble has been dedicated to humanitarian efforts as an ardent supporter of and contributor to the T.J. Martell Leukemia Foundation and the AMC Cancer Research Center and Hospital, which honored him with the Humanitarian Award in 1980. He also has been highly committed to the renovation and restoration of South Philadelphia.
The bulk of the gala’s featured performances saluted the monumental Gamble & Huff catalogue, with a jukebox full of live contributions from The Soul Survivors, who recorded the duo’s first major hit as writers and producers, “Express Way to Your Heart”; Ledisi, the R&B singer who has frequently been invited to perform at the White House for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama; The Three Degrees, whose Gamble & Huff hits were led by “When Will I See You Again,” and also marked by vocals on the iconic Soul Train theme, “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia”); Kathy Sledge, original lead vocalist of Sister Sledge; and rising Philadelphia R&B singer-songwriter Carol Riddick.
