Classic R&B, rock residencies returning to Strip theaters

Legendary R&B and classic-rock headliners are returning to the Strip in 2025. Read on to re-acquaint yourselves with these venerable hit makers:

Lionel’s the ‘King’

“Lionel Richie: King of Hearts” is back at Encore Theater for a half-dozen shows Jan. 15 and 18-19 and again April 9, 11-12 (tickets on sale 10 a.m. Pacific time Friday at Ticketmaster.com).

Richie has performed 48 sold-out shows since opening at Encore Theater in 2019. He’s served as a judge on “American Idol,” for the past seven seasons, and has been renewed for its eighth season.

Richie’s stage show has been peppered with hits from his days with the Commodores and his solo career. Among them, “Easy,” “All Night Long,” “Penny Lover,” “Stuck on You,” “Hello,” “Say You, Say Me,” “Dancing on the Ceiling,” and “We Are the World.”

Richie made his Las Vegas debut at the former Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, today’s PH Live, in 1982. “All Night Long” was his new single.

“Now, back in the day, you could put a song out and it would take two to three weeks for it to be a hit,” Richie said in a 2017 interview. “But when I started ‘All Night Long’ people responded to it as if it was already a hit. They had no idea what is was, but they liked it.

“As time went on, and people started hearing it on the radio, it became the closing song, and of course a really big hit for me.” That song is in the Encore show, naturally.

‘Grand’ return

Styx makes its return to The Venetian Theatre on Jan. 24, 25, 29, 31 and Feb. 1, announced Monday. The band is reviving its 1977 masterpiece “The Grand Illusion,” in its entirety (tickets on sale 10 a.m. Pacific time Friday at Ticketmaster.com).

The classic-rock stalwarts have performed in tandem with ex-Eagle Don Felder and Nancy Wilson of Heart in previous Venetian engagements.

“The Grand Illusion” is the band’s best-selling album, reading No. 6 on the Billboard charts, with “Come Sail Away” at No. 8 and “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” at No. 29 its lead singles. The album has sold more than three million copies, the first in a series of four straight multi-platinum albums.

In an interview in January 2020, Tommy Shaw said he hit the high notes in “Lady” to win a spot in the band. Two years later, Styx released “The Grand Illusion.”

“There is actually a high B up to a high E in it. “I sang it, I hit it, and I’m still singing that high B and E,” Shaw said. “Everything we sing today is in the original key. It sounds better that way.”

What works in Vegas

”Kyle Martin’s Piano Man,” a tribute to Elton John and Billy Joel, at V Theater at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. A classic case of knowing every word to every song, sung and played wonderfully by Martin and his backing band of Tasos Peltekis on guitar, A.J. Johnson on bass, Rob Mader on sax and Alex Papa on drums.

Martin divides time between the two artists, opening with Joel, then dropping a nifty original into the closing stretch. The place was almost packed when I saw the show for the first time. As someone who can play me a melody would say, it was a pretty good crowd, for a Sunday.

Cool Hang Alert

Column fav Kelly Vohnn has her “By Request” show at Italian American Club at 8 p.m. (doors at 6:30) Wednesday. Brenda Cowart (who backs Marie Osmond) on keys. This is in the Sinatra Room, just next to the Showroom. Vohnn is adding personal touch with Canadian noshes a (empire cookies, butter tarts and such). A different type of vibe for the IAC, with the audience having pre-determined the set list. But Vohnn will take requests on the fly, too. Go to iacvegas.com for intel.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.