WAR

PASO ROBLES, Calif. – March 4, 2024 – WAR, one of music’s defining and most enduring soul/funk groups, will come to Vina Robles Amphitheatre, Saturday, May 4, as part of The World is a Ghetto 50th Anniversary Tour. The tour coincides with this year’s reissue of the landmark LP. East LA rock band El Chicano will open. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster, Friday, March 8, at 10AM.

WAR was founded in Long Beach, California, in 1969 when producer Jerry Goldstein united the seven-piece band (originally called the Creators) with former Animals lead singer Eric Burdon; the alliance produced the No. 1 worldwide hit “Spill the Wine.” Stepping out on their own in 1971, they launched a fruitful career with a dynamic sound that fused R&B, rock, Latin music, jazz, and blues. By 1972, it was no secret that WAR was one of America’s best and most exploratory soul-funk bands. Bigger things were at hand. Their previous accomplishments were mere warmups for their third UA album The World is a Ghetto, which became the benchmark of their career. The album included the title track as well as certified gold hit, “The Cisco Kid.”

Debuting on the album chart in late ’72, The World is a Ghetto made a steady climb for two months. After entering the U.S. top five in late January of 1973, it spent three weeks in the No. 2 slot before finally dislodging the reigning No. 1 pop album, Carly Simon’s No Secrets, and moving to the pinnacle of the chart. It concurrently secured the No. 1 position on the R&B albums chart. During its run, the album spent a total of 68 weeks on the charts – listed at No. 1 among Billboard’s year-end ranking of 1973’s top five pop albums.

Over a long and glittering career, WAR has rung up more than 20 multi-platinum, platinum and gold albums and singles. This year, fronted by co-founding member Lonnie Jordan, the group will celebrate 50 years of 1973’s No. 1 Billboard top-selling album, The World is a Ghetto, with a 50-date summer tour, remixes, new releases and more.