Mickey Gilley, Johnny Lee to perform at 42nd annual Hope Watermelon Festival
Mickey Gilley and Johnny Lee will perform their Urban Cowboy Reunion Tour at the 42nd annual Hope Watermelon Festival in August at Hope Fair Park.
The concert starts at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 10 on the CMC Stage inside the park. Gates open at 6 p.m.
Mickey Gilley, 1976 Country Music Entertainer of the Year, helped create “Gilley’s,” the landmark Texas nightclub in 1971. Gilley’s Club was a sensation of the era: the “world’s largest honky-tonk,” according to a press release from University of Arkansas at Hope-Texarkana. It launched some of country music’s biggest stars. The John Travolta movie “Urban Cowboy” was filmed at the Pasadena, Texas, nightclub.
Gilley scored his first string of consecutive No. 1 hits in the mid-1970s—“Roomful of Roses,” “I Overlooked An Orchid,” “City Lights,” “Window Up Above” and “Bring It On Home To Me.” He has had 39 Top 10 hits, with 17 reaching No. 1, on the country charts. In 1976, received Entertainer of the Year, Top Male Vocalist, Song of the Year, Single of the Year and Album of the Year at the ACM Awards.
Johnny Lee is one of the newest members of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. Lee performed in “Urban Cowboy.” “Lookin’ For Love” from the soundtrack became Lee’s first Gold Record. The song topped Billboard Country Music singles Charts at No. 1 and No. 2 for three weeks.
His other No. 1 singles included “One in a Million,” “Bet Your Heart On Me,” “The Yellow Rose,” and “You Could’ve Heard a Heart Break.”
General admission tickets are $15 for adults and $6 for children ages 4-10. Reserved seating tickets are $40. Adult general admission increases to $20 on the day of the event. Tickets go on sale June 7 at Hope Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce, 101 W. Second St., Hope, Ark., or online at uacch.edu.