Music icons to perform at Patchogue Theatre

You’ll have a hard time counting all the hit songs when three of music’s biggest stars get together to perform at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts on April 12.

The Grammy-winning husband-and-wife duo of Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. will be joined by “Queen of Christmas” Darlene Love for an evening of songs you’re sure to remember.

The program will no doubt feature hits like McCoo and Davis’s “You Don’t Have to Be a Star,” many of their hits with The 5th Dimension, and Love’s songs like “He’s a Rebel” and “Da Doo Ron Ron.”

“They always want to hear the hits,” said Davis, who’s been married to McCoo for 55 years.

“We’ve had a few of them,” he added.

The music “takes a lot of people back to their childhood,” said Love, a Grammy winner who is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “They’re fun songs, and people remember them and they want to hear them.”

While they’ve known and admired each other for years, it’s the first time McCoo and Davis will share the bill with Love, who is known to younger fans for her annual appearances on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” singing her hit “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home.)”
“Who knew I was going to do it for 28 years,” she said.

McCoo and Davis were two of the original members of the legendary ‘70s group, The 5th Dimension, known for hits like “Up, Up and Away,” “Wedding Bell Blues” and “One Less Bell to Answer.”

After leaving the group, they performed as a duo and starred in their own CBS-TV variety show in 1977—the first African American couple on TV to do so. McCoo also co-hosted the music show “Solid Gold” in the 1980s.

In 2021, McCoo and Davis cut an album of John Lennon and Paul McCartney tunes called “Blackbird: Lennon and McCartney Icons.” They’ll be performing songs from the album.

“It’s going to be an exciting evening,” McCoo said.

Love has long been one of music’s most recognizable voices as a backup singer for headliners from Dionne Warwick to Tom Jones.  It wasn’t until later in her career that Love began to receive the recognition she deserved, thanks to her hit, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home.)”

“Her voice is truly one of the voices of our time,” McCoo said