Sonny Burgess (born May 28, 1931 in Newport, Arkansas, USA) is an American rockabilly singer and guitarist.
1) Albert "Sonny" Burgess is a guitarist and singer of rockabilly, present at its inception and still performing today. He was born 28 May 1931 on a farm near Newport, Arkansas about 60 miles west of Memphis.
Burgess played honky-tonk music in dance halls and bars around Newport in the early-1950s. He helped form a semiprofessional trio in the early 1950s, which became the "Moonlighters." After advice from record producer Sam Phillips, the group expanded to form the "Pacers." Its first record was "We Wanna Boogie" in 1956 for Sun Records, followed by ?Red Headed Woman.? Both were notable for their raucous high energy, which matched onstage antics in performance. Burgess disbanded the group in 1971 but later found a new audience in Europe.
His group, now called the "Legendary Pacers," was a sensation at a 1999 worldwide rockabilly concert in Las Vegas. It recorded "Still Rockin? and Rollin?" in 2000, voted the best new album in the country and roots field in Europe. He was subsequently inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in Burns, Tennessee and the European Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Sonny Burgess & the Legendary Pacers performed at the 2006 National Folk Festival in Richmond, Virginia to enthusiastic, rocking audiences in the thousands.
2) Sonny Burgess is a country music artist, who released his debut album, When in Texas, in 2001.
From Wikipedia:Albert Austin "Sonny" Burgess (born May 28, 1931, on a farm near Newport, Arkansas to Albert and Esta Burgess) is a guitarist and singer of classic rockabilly music.
In the early 1950s, Burgess played boogie woogie music in dance halls and bars around Newport. Burgess, Kern Kennedy, Johnny Ray Hubbard, and Gerald Jackson formed a boogie-woogie band they called the Rocky Road Ramblers. In 1954, following a stint in the US Army (1951?53), Burgess re-formed the band, calling them the Moonlighters after the Silver Moon Club in Newport, where they performed regularly. After advice from record producer Sam Phillips, the group expanded to form the Pacers. R The band's first record was "We Wanna Boogie" in 1956 for Sun Records, in Memphis, about 80 miles southeast of his birthplace. The flip side was "Red Headed Woman." Both were written by Burgess. The songs have been described as "among the most raucous, energy-filled recordings released during the first flowering of rock and roll." Their onstage antics in performance were similarly described.
Burgess disbanded the group in 1971 but later found a new audience in Europe.
Burgess was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of Europe in 1999. His group, now called The Legendary Pacers, was a hit that same year in a rockabilly concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. It recorded Still Rockin? and Rollin? in 2000, voted the best new album in the country and roots field in Europe.. The group was inducted in 2002 into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, Jackson, Tennessee.
Sonny Burgess & The Legendary Pacers performed at the 2006 National Folk Festival in Richmond, Virginia to large, enthusiastic audiences.
Sonny Burgess hosts a weekly radio program called We Wanna Boogie with co-host June Taylor. The program, named after his first record, airs Sunday nights from 5-7pm Central Time on 91.9FM KASU in Jonesboro, Arkansas.