John Waite Tickets This Morning At 11

Tickets go on sale this morning at 11 for the legendary John Waite at SPACE on Thursday, May 5th. John has been on the radio for decades thanks to his hit albums & hit songs. He’s the voice of two hit groups, but his biggest success is as a solo artist.

“John Waite: The Wooden Heart Acoustic Tour, featuring The Axemen: Tim Hogan and Mark Ricciardi. An Intimate Evening of Songs, Stories and Q&A” is the official name of this tour.

John was formerly with the groups The Babys and Bad English, but he’s best known for his #1 solo single “Missing You” in 1984.

John first tasted success in 1977 when the song “Isn’t It Time” became the first hit single for the British band The Babys, followed by their second hit single “Every Time I Think Of You” in 1979.

By 1980 The Babys had two new American members, Chicago musician Jonathan Cain (later of Bad English & Journey) and Ricky Phillips (later of Bad English & Styx) and they had two hit singles: “Back On My Feet Again” and “Midnight Rendezvous” – both from the classic “Union Jacks” album.

The Babys called it quits after their next album “On The Edge” and John became a solo artist. In 1984, John had the #1 song “Missing You” but the lure of being in a group again led him to “Bad English” in 1988.

Bad English consisted of John Waite from The Babys, Ricky Phillips from The Babys and later Styx, Jonathan Cain from The Babys & Journey, Neal Schon from Journey & Santana, plus Deen Castronovo who later joined Journey. In 1989, Bad English took the songs “When I See You Smile” to #1 and “Price Of Love” to #5. Bad English disbanded in 1991 and John returned to his solo career.

His solo hits since 1991 include: “Ain’t No Sunshine” - “Downtown” (written with Glen Burtnik from Styx) - “How Did I Get By Without You” - “In Dreams” - “NYC Girl” (written with Glen Burtnik from Styx) - “The Hard Way” - “When You Were Mine” and the acoustic version of “Missing You” has been a hit, along with a duet version performed with Alison Krauss.

All three phases of his career – Babys, Bad English & solo – all appear on one greatest hits album “The Complete John Waite, Vol. 1: Falling Backwards” released in 1996.

John released the studio album “Rough & Tumble” in 2011 and it was co-written with Kyle Cook of the group Matchbox Twenty. Hits on the album included “If You Ever Get Lonely” and the title track.

“John Waite: The Wooden Heart Acoustic Tour, featuring The Axemen: Tim Hogan and Mark Ricciardi. An Intimate Evening of Songs, Stories and Q&A” will be at SPACE in Evanston on May 5th at 8 and the doors open at 7 p.m.

Tickets go on sale this morning at 11 at http://evanstonspace.com.