In the midst of Unsung’s highest-rated season to date, TV One has announced plans to extend the run of the NAACP Image Award-winning series Monday nights at 10 p.m. ET throughout the summer, including three additional premiere episodes.
The popular series of one-hour biographies celebrates the lives and careers of successful artists or groups who, despite great talent, have not received the level of recognition they deserve or whose stories have never been told.
New this summer will be episodes highlighting Billy Preston, The Sylvers and Mary Wells. The full schedule is listed below.
• July 18 – Sylvester – Sylvester James was the undisputed King and Queen of disco. He strived for fame, fortune and freedom during a time when it was highly unlikely for a large, openly gay, sometimes in drag, African American male to make it in the world of entertainment. But with a powerhouse falsetto voice to back him up, that’s exactly what Sylvester did. Through interviews with music colleagues such as Narada Michael Walden, The Pointer Sisters, Martha Wash and Jeanie Tracey, along with close family members and friends, Unsung chronicles a music career which reached heights that few expected, but in retrospect was fully earned.
• July 25 – Billy Preston (Premiere) – A child prodigy who performed with Nat King Cole and recorded with Mahalia Jackson at 10 and went on a European Tour with Little Richard at 15, he was the only artist to share a songwriting credit with The Beatles and regularly toured with The Rolling Stones. And his greatest fame came on his own, with a slew of popular hits including ‘Nothin’ From Nothin’,’ ‘Will it Go Round in Circles,’ and ‘You Are So Beautiful.’ But the joy Billy shared in his music was masking a deep sadness. Burying a dark childhood secret behind drugs and alcohol, Billy deteriorated throughout the ’80s and ’90s, ultimately ending up in prison. For the first time, Billy’s closest friends and family open up about the torment that drove a musical genius to ruins and a painful, early end.
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article courtesy of Eurweb.com
