KC and the Sunshine Band
@ Pigeon Island, St. Lucia Jazz Festival
8 May 2009

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Biography

With sales of over 100 million records, nine Grammy nominations, three Grammy Awards and an American Music Award, KC and The Sunshine Band is one of the seminal forces in pop. In more than 25 years of making music, the group developed an original funk style that continues to delight old fans and attract new ones into the millennium.

Hits like “Get Down Tonight”, “That’s The Way (I Like It)” and “Shake Your Booty” established KC & the Sunshine Band as movers and shakers in the music business. Along with the Beatles and the Jackson Five, KC’s the only new artist to have four number one singles in the span of one year: “Boogie Shoes”, “Get Down Tonight”, “That’s The Way (I Like It)”, and “Rock Your Baby”.

Harry Wayne Casey - KC for short - started working in the music business at age 17, performing menial tasks around the T.K. Records/Studio complex in his hometown of Miami. He formed The Sunshine Band in 1973, by which time he had begun writing songs, playing keyboards and producing for the band and for other T.K. artists. The Sunshine Band’s first single, “Blow Your Whistle”, made the R&B top 15. His second album, KC & the Sunshine Band, was released in 1975, went triple platinum and contained the Number 1 hits “Get Down Tonight” and “That’s The Way (I Like It)”. KC’s third album, Part 3, released in 1976, also went triple platinum and spawned the Number 1 singles “I’m Your Boogie Man”, “Shake Your Booty” and “Keep It Comin’ Love”.

In 1976, KC won a songwriting Grammy for best R&B song for “Where Is The Love”, which was recorded by Betty Wright. He also received Grammy Awards for Album of the Year as well as Producer of the Year in 1978 for his work on the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack. In 1975 he won the American Music Award for Best R&B Artist. In 2001, KC was honoured with the NARAS Governors Award, the highest honour given by a chapter of the Academy. K C would score more hits in 1978 and 1983.

KC’s music continues to be a favourite today. His songs have appeared in ads for companies like General Motors, Burger King, Nestlé Toll House Cookies, K Mart, Old Navy, and Nick at Night. His music has also been featured in over 75 movies such as Forrest Gump (Get Down Tonight); Boogie Nights (Boogie Shoes); Boys Don’t Cry (Rock Your Baby), Rush Hour (Get Down Tonight); Carlito’s Way (Rock Your Baby, Shake Your Booty & That's the Way I Like It). KC’s songs are regularly heard at sporting events, from Wrigley Field to the University of Tennessee to hundreds of high school gymnasiums across America.

No stranger to the small screen, KC has appeared on such shows as The Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, American Bandstand’s 50th Anniversary Party, Behind the Music, and Ally McBeal. K’C’s music has also been sampled by many of today’s R&B and rap artists such as Beyonce Knowles and Snoop Dogg to name but a few.

In the fall of 2001, KC released an album of all-new material entitled I’ll Be There For You”. Proceeds from the title song, released as a single, were donated to the September 11 relief effort.