Kevin's Celeb Pics

Wow . . . it's been a while since my last update. The following are my three latest additions.

Sherman Hemsley (aka George Jefferson) was in Peoria, Illinois on September 17 to star in the play, "Mama's Sweet Potato Pie." The play was part of the city's Black Expo. As he exited the van which brought him from Chicago, his hands were full with his wardrobe and lunch. He said he'd be back in a minute to sign our autographs. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later, he came out the backstage garage to sign. I had purchased his CD, "Dance," via Ebay for him to sign (the disk is RARE and includes an interesting mix of jazz, r and b, and dance music, yes George Jefferson can sing). He was quite startled to see the disk and seemed thrilled to be able to accommodate my request for an autograph. As he finished, he caught a glimpse of my Moodies Strange Times crew shirt I was wearing. "Moody Blues, huh? Strange Times...I really never liked that one. I really like their first six albums," he said. How's that for an unexpected surprise? We spent the next five minutes chatting about the Moodies, favorite songs, and seeing the band live. As we finished our conversation, he posed for a picture and then walked back inside for the show.

Guitar wizard Leo Kottke was at the UIS Auditorium in Springfield, Illinois, for a September 15 concert. After declining my request for a photo before the show (said he had to take the stage in five minutes, when in reality he had 45 minutes), he stopped to sign and take pictures with fans at the backstage door after the show.

I headed to Springfield, Illinois, August 22 in hopes of getting a picture with actress Vivicia A. Fox at an AIDS awareness event at The Center. Instead, I got Grammy winner Kelly Rowland, a member of 90's super group Destiny's Child. She was a last minute fill-in for Vivica who had a film commitment to honor. Getting to Kelly was the hard part as she had sequestered herself in an area to the side of the stage where she watched five different rap artists perform. I won't give you specifics, but I did manage to access the backstage area. Kelly posed for the picture on a rest room break between acts.