Aykroyd, Jim Belushi Praise Joliet For Saving Old Joliet Prison

JOLIET, IL — Between 4,500 and 5,000 people — including the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers — are expected to be inside the Old Joliet Prison for Friday night's performance on stage of two Hollywood legends, Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi.

Friday and Saturday mark Blues Brothers Con, an event that is drawing people from all over the country to Joliet, as well as people from foreign countries.

Around 9:30 p.m., Aykroyd and Belushi will reprise their iconic roles of Elwood Blues and Brother Zee for a 90-minute special performance when the famous Old Joliet Prison will welcome back the Blues Brothers.

On Friday afternoon, Aykroyd and Belushi walked the Old Joliet Prison grounds and made time for photos and autographs with fans. They also granted several interview requests with reporters, including one on one interviews with the Joliet Patch.

The movie Blues Brothers came out in 1980, making it 42 years old now.

"I think we count it from our first appearance on SNL (Saturday Night Live) but it was older than that because we brought it to the show as kind of an already refined act," Aykroyd told Joliet Patch. "We played with Willie Nelson at the Lone Star Cafe for a few nights ... so we were perfecting the act and bringing it into SNL, so the first time the world saw us was on the SNL show."

Joliet Patch asked Aykroyd if he had a special message for the people of Joliet, since Joliet is known all over the world because of the iconic Blues Brothers movie.

"Well, thank you for the welcome that it looks like we're going to be receiving," Aykroyd replied. "I'm very grateful for the welcome and ... just everyone's countenance seems so happy and up and God knows we need that in the world today.

"We'll see what the reaction is to the music. I think it's going to be all right. So I say thank you to the community for letting us come here and film in the first place and thanks for having us back. And all the volunteers who have come out on this steamy evening to be part of this and to help out. And the (Joliet) Police Department and public services that have really swung on board.

"We've got the Mt. Prospect police car over there, the original one, well, one like the movie and then their new unit and the guys from Mt. Prospect. And they've embraced that as part of the legend, and that's gratifying to see as well," Aykroyd told Joliet Patch.

"I hope this points the way toward film production coming here to Joliet, specifically this facility. There's a lot of room for warehouses, for offices, for parking, and it's perfectly set up ... and I think a lot of commerce is going to come for it."

The Old Joliet Prison was abandoned for 15 years after it closed in 2002. After a series of arson fires and a rash of vandalism, Joliet city officials teamed up with the Joliet Area Historical Museum to bring the property back to life as a tourism destination.

The efforts have been so successful that Aykroyd and Belushi agreed to visit the Old Joliet Prison and give a performance on Friday night.

"So it's nice to bring that energy back and repurpose this place and bring great joy to Joliet," Aykroyd said.