ArtsQuest announces FINAL Musikfest 2024 headliner

BETHLEHEM — ArtsQuest announces the final Musikfest 2024 headliner, Sugar Ray and Tonic, will be taking on the Wind Creek Steel Stage at PNC Plaza on Friday, August 2. This Musikfest headliner is presented by 100.7, WLEV.

Ticket access begins April 30 at 10 a.m. for ArtsQuest Circle Members and Wednesday, May 1 at 10 a.m. for ArtsQuest Steel and Gold Members. On Friday, May 3, ticket access will open up to the general public at musikfest.org .

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and the show kicks off at 7 p.m.

Sugar Ray is a rock band from Orange County, California. The band formed in 1992 with the name Shrinky Dinx, later changing it to Sugar Ray after the boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. They were originally a funk metal band, however new releases have found them venturing into other genres, like pop rock.

Sugar Ray’s first mainstream hit came in the summer of 1997 with their song “Fly,” which was released on the album Floored and featured notable reggae artist Super Cat. 21 years down the road, Post Malone incorporated “Fly” in “Sugar Wraith” on the triple-platinum Beerbongs & Bentleys. Helmed by GRAMMY Award-winning producer David Kahne, Floored earned the band’s first gold plaque and eventually went double-platinum.Two years later, 14:59 bowed in the Top 20 of the Billboard Top 200, went triple-platinum and gave us “Someday,” “Falls Apart” and their second #1 “Every Morning.”In 2001, Sugar Ray crashed the Top 200 at #6 as “When It’s Over” staked out a spot on the charts. It added another platinum plaque to their walls.

Having performed at Musikfest in 2000, ArtsQuest is excited to welcome the band back to the festival on the Wind Creek Steel Stage.

The story of Tonic revolves around the longstanding, close brotherhood shared among members Emerson Hart, Jeff Russo and Dan Lavery. Since 1996, the GRAMMY Award-nominated multi-platinum trio has consistently delivered anthemic and undeniable rock fashioned from eloquent songcraft, lyrical honesty and unshakable melodies. Along the way, they translated true experiences and real memories into a storied catalog that resounds as loudly today as it did over two decades ago.

To date, the band has landed six Top 10 singles, sold 4 million-plus records and garnered a pair of GRAMMY Award nominations. Their full-length debut, Lemon Parade, not only went platinum, but it also yielded the “#1 Most-Played Rock Song of 1997” in the form of the lead single “If You Could Only See.” The band’s follow-up single, “You Wanted More,” served as the lead-off from the platinum Original Soundtrack Album for American Pie and the second full-length, Sugar.

In between a marathon of touring, they released Head on Straight in 2002. The single “Take Me as I Am” received a GRAMMY Award nomination in the category of “Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal” as the album vied for “Best Rock Album”—only to lose to Bruce Springsteen. After a five-year hiatus, the three-piece returned to the charts on the heels of Tonic in 2010, landing in the Top 50 of the Billboard Top Rock Albums Chart and Top 25 of the Billboard Top Independent Albums Chart.

The 41st Musikfest is scheduled for August 2 through August 11 and also features hundreds of free performances, across stages located throughout the city of Bethlehem.