Thomas Dolby Announces The Iconic 80s Tour
(HGM) Grammy-nominated technology-forward singer/songwriter Thomas Dolby will soon set off on a headlining tour of the United States, playing select dates in the Northeast and Midwest dubbed The Iconic 80s.
The dates kick off in mid-April. In this intimate concert series, Thomas Dolby will bring his unusual journey to life, blending songs, stories and musical reminiscences from the 1980s. Normally opting to appear solo, for these dates he will be accompanied by distinguished musical guests including Gail Ann Dorsey on bass and vocals, and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Lipke on guitars and vocals. Dorsey will also open the show with her solo set.
In his No. 1 Amazon (AMZN) bestselling memoir "The Speed of Sound," Thomas Dolby cataloged his journey from busker on the streets of London and Paris to in-demand session keyboardist with artists such as Foreigner and Stevie Wonder, producer for Joni Mitchell and George Clinton, to sharing the stage with David Bowie at Live Aid and Roger Waters at The Wall in Berlin. Beyond music, he founded a Silicon Valley tech company, co-invented the Nokia polyphonic ringtone, helped transform TED into a global phenomenon, and earned acclaim as a filmmaker and novelist. He is now an endowed Professor of Music at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.
Gail Ann Dorsey is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with an impressive career. Widely known as David Bowie's longtime bassist and vocalist, she has also toured and recorded with such notable artists as Tears for Fears, Lenny Kravitz, Bryan Ferry and Gwen Stefani. She is currently a featured performer in the Blackstar Symphony, with bandleader Donny McCaslin. Gail has previously released three solo albums and will release her next solo project, THE APPEARANCE OF LIFE, this spring. The first single, "(It Takes All Kinds) to Make a World," is out now.
Andrew Lipke is a South African-born, Emmy-nominated composer, producer, arranger, conductor, vocalist and educator based in Philadelphia, known for his work across a wide range of musical genres. He has released seven self-produced albums. His orchestrations have been performed by major U.S. symphonies, and he has conducted the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center along with orchestras in Atlanta, Nashville, Dallas and elsewhere. His most recent work is a concept album trilogy inspired by Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha," with a new project, IRIS, forthcoming.
Perhaps best known for blinding us with science, Thomas Dolby has always blurred the lines between composition and invention. Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. He came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me with Science" (1982) and "Hyperactive!" (1984). He has also worked as a producer and as a session musician on hits by Def Leppard, Whodini, The Thompson Twins and Belinda Carlisle. Thomas Dolby is associated with the new wave movement of the early 1980s, a form of pop music incorporating electronic instruments, but his work covers a wide range of musical styles and moods distinct from the high-energy pop sound of his few, better-known commercial successes.
In the 1990s, Thomas Dolby founded Beatnik, a Silicon Valley software company which developed the polyphonic ringtone engine that played back the Nokia tune. Its technology was embedded in more than three billion cell phones and devices made by Nokia, Microsoft (MSFT) and Motorola (MSI). He was also the music director for TED Conferences for twelve years. On the faculty at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University since 2014, he leads Peabody's Music for New Media program, which enrolled its first students in the fall of 2018.
In July, 1998, Thomas Dolby received a "Lifetime Achievement in Internet Music" award from Yahoo! Internet Life (YHOO). In 2012 he performed at Moogfest and was the recipient of The Moog Innovation Award, which celebrates "pioneering artists whose genre-defying work exemplifies the bold, innovative spirit of Bob Moog". In February 2018, he was awarded the Roland Lifetime Achievement Award. Thomas Dolby has received four Grammy nominations, two each in 1984 and 1988. Thomas Dolby continues to tour the world and this tour will offer a sneak preview of one of his most ambitious performance undertakings yet set to start in late 2026. Stay tuned for more news on that front...
Thomas Dolby United States tour dates:
APRIL
14 Plymouth, MA Spire Center
15 New York, NY Racket
16 Kingston, NY Assembly
18 Lansing, MI Grewal Hall
19 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue
20 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
21 St. Louis, MO City Winery
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