We Asked, You Answered: The Top 20 Bands That Have Ever Played at Tupelo Music Hall
#20: KICK – The INXS Experience
Dates Performed: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023
Details: Formed in 2014, two years after INXS stopped touring, KICK – The INXS Experience has beautifully managed to capture the spirit of INXS in both its sound and live performance, bringing the highest level of musicianship to the audience while showing a true passion for the music of INXS. KICK is officially endorsed by Tina Hutchence, sister of the late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, and has garnered the attention, admiration, and accolades of well-seasoned “ears” in the music industry. KICK played the first year of our Tupelo Drive-In series during the pandemic!
#19: Pat Benatar
Date Performed: 2018
Did You Know: Arguably one of the biggest artists who have played Tupelo, she got her break at an amateur night at New York’s Catch a Rising Star comedy club.
Details: Pat Benatar is a four-time Grammy winner, Benatar is a classically trained mezzo-soprano. During her show at Tupelo Music Hall, she played with her husband Neil “Spyder“ James Giraldo, a professional musician, producer, arranger and songwriter, who changed the face of the pop charts throughout the 1980s with Pat.
#18: Magical Mystery Doors
Dates Performed: 2023, 2024
Did You Know: This is one of the most unique performances you will ever see at Tupelo Music Hall!!
Details: Magical Mystery Doors is a tribute act that blends and layers the music of three legendary bands – the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and The Doors – to create something new and unique for music fans everywhere.
#17: The Zombies
Dates Performed: 2019
Did You Know: With the recent retirement of Rod Argent after a stroke, Tupelo Music Hall was one of the last venues to host the band with both Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent on stage.
Details: Their 2019 tour that stopped at Tupelo Music Hall was in celebration of their long-awaited induction into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. After receiving their 4th nomination in 5 years, the support for The Zombies’ induction among the public and their peers was undeniable – the band placed 4th in the public online poll with over 330,000 votes.
#16: UFO
Dates Performed: 2011
Did You Know: This band once featured former Scorpions guitarist Michael Schenker, who has played Tupelo Music Hall with his band.
Details: Formed in London in 1968, they became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the new wave of British heavy metal. Over a career spanning five decades, UFO had released 22 studio albums, 14 live recordings, 16 compilation albums and one album of cover songs.
#15: MR. BIG
Dates Performed: 2024
Did You Know: Unfortunately, our only show was part of Mr. Big’s farewell tour…
Details: Mr. Big put on their signature top hats and old shoes one last time for a worldwide tour, aptly titled “The BIG Finish” in 2014. Since the band’s original drummer and co-founder, Pat Torpey, lost his battle with Parkinson’s disease in 2018, the band felt it was time to mark the end of this chapter of their legacy.
#14: MARTIN BARRE
Dates Performed: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
Did You Know: This English rock musician has been the guitarist for the band Jethro Tull since 1969 and cites Leslie West as a direct influence on his playing.
Details: Martin Barre’s solos were voted 25th best solo ever in the USA and 20th best solo ever in the UK for his playing on Jethro Tull’s Aqualung. His playing on the album Crest of a Knave earned him a Grammy award in 1989.
#13: ADAM ANT
Dates Performed: 2024
Did You Know: Stuart Leslie Goddard renamed himself “Adam Ant” by combining Adam (the first man) with Ant because “if there’s a nuclear explosion, the ants will survive”
Details: Adam Ant gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten hits from 1980 to 1983, including three UK No. 1 singles.
#12: Y&T
Dates Performed: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Did You Know: Originally formed as “Yesterday and Today” this band is one of the innovators of the hard rock sound.
Details: Born in Oakland, California, Y&T is one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s own innovators of the hard rock sound. With a discography of 18 albums, three greatest hits collections, plus a boxed set, Y&T has sold over four million albums since their 1974 inception.
#11: HOWARD JONES
Dates Performed: 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017
Did You Know: Around the world, Jones had 15 top 40 hit singles between 1983 and 1992. The 1986 hit single “No One Is to Blame” reached No. 4 on the US charts.
Details: Howard Jones first burst upon the contemporary music scene with his very English song-writing and pioneering synthesizers. Howard lived in the higher reaches of the album charts in the UK, USA, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Australia and many other countries and the hits kept coming…
#10: BLUE OYSTER CULT
Dates Performed: 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022
Did You Know: If you don’t know the song “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, You may know them as the band that “needs more cowbell,” from the Saturday Night Live skit featuring Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell in 2000.
Details: The band is often cited as a major influence by other acts such as Metallica, and BÖC was listed in VH1’s countdown of the greatest hard rock bands of all time.
#9: EAGLEMANIA
Dates Performed: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Did You Know: Eaglemania played 12 shows during our Tupelo Drive-In outdoor series!
Details: Eaglemania has evolved into a nationally touring tribute to The Eagles, performing to sold out audiences everywhere they go. The band consists of an ensemble of veteran musicians whose goal is to faithfully reproduce the Eagle’s repertoire, music they love to sing and play, always committed to giving their audience a perfect show every time they take the stage.
#8: RICHARD MARX
Dates Performed: 2019, 2020, 2022
Did You Know: Daisy Fuentes was at the venue with her husband Richard on his 2022 show.
Details: The Chicago native has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, starting with his self-titled debut which went to #8 and spawned four Top 5 singles, including the chart-topping “Hold on to the Nights,” with “Don’t Mean Nothing” earning him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.
#7: THE FIXX
Dates Performed: 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023
Did You Know: The FIXX played a show with The Alarm and The English Beat on the tiny Londonderry stage.
Details: The Fixx are a rock band from London, founded in 1979. The band’s hits include “One Thing Leads to Another”, “Saved by Zero”, “Are We Ourselves?”, and “Secret Separation”, each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, as well as mainstream rock chart hits “Red Skies”, “Stand or Fall”, “Driven Out” and “Deeper and Deeper”, which was featured on the soundtrack of the 1984 film Streets of Fire.
#6: TOTO
Dates Performed: 2017
Did You Know: One of our biggest artists ever booked!
Details: Their performance at Tupelo lasted two hours, featuring classic hits, and both band and fan favorites from their vast catalog in performances. Prior to their stop at Tupelo, 2016 was their first U.S. headline run in over a decade.
#5: RIK EMMETT
Dates Performed: 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Did You Know: Rik gifted one of his guitars to Scott. It is signed and hanging in the lobby!
Details: Rik Emmett gained international recognition as the lead singer/songwriter/guitarist with Triumph. The adjectives ‘prolific’ and ‘eclectic’ frequently pop up in Rik’s profiles, after five decades in the biz. Following over a dozen platinum albums from his Triumph years, he produced 19 more as an indie, ranging from rock to blues to jazz to folk to classical.
#4: SQUEEZE
Dates Performed: 2007, 2019
Did You Know: Debuted their 2007 show in Londonderry as a practice play before playing 3,000 seat venues across the country. This is arguably the show that put Tupelo Music Hall on the map.
Details: Squeeze came to prominence during the new wave period of the late 1970s, and continued recording in the 1980s, 1990s and 2010s. In the U.S., Squeeze had American hits with “Tempted”, “Black Coffee in Bed”, and “Hourglass”, and were considered a part of the Second British Invasion.
#3: LOTUS LAND
Dates Performed: 2019, 2020,,2022, 2023, 2024
Did You Know: Chris Nelson (Lead Vocals and Bass) has played with Herb Reed and The Platters, The Drifters, and The Coasters.
Details: The Lotus Land experience has been heralded as the ultimate celebration of RUSH’s musical craftsmanship and spirited performances. With the true set up and sound of the Canadian power trio, Lotus Land delivers the thrill that people expect when they see RUSH in concert.
#2: GEOFF TATE
Dates Performed: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2023
Did You Know: Former lead singer of Queensryche has 4 octave vocal range and has sold out every show at the venue.
Details: Multi-platinum selling, Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Geoff Tate is best known for his 30-plus years as the creative and driving force behind the progressive metal band Queensryche. Geoff is regarded as one of the most skilled vocalists in the genre with hundreds of modern, popular artists citing him and his former band as a major influence.
#1: THE ENGLISH BEAT
Dates Performed: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013,2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2024
Did You Know: With 23 shows, English Beat has played more shows at Tupelo Music Hall than any other band or artist!
Details: The English Beat is a band with an energetic mix of musical styles and a sound like no other, fusing Latin, ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock. The band’s unique sound has allowed it to endure for nearly three decades and appeal to fans, young and old, all over the world.
Honorable Mentions: Eric Johnson and Mike Stern, Living Colour, Peter Frampton, John Waite, Rick Springfield, Buddy Guy, Tom Keifer, Candlebox, Beginnings (Chicago Tribute), and The Music of ABBA