A 1970s soul/R&B double bill of Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire will play PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford on July 10.
The tour is playing 26 cities in the U.S. and Canada from June 24 through Aug. 14. The Hartford date is the ninth show on the tour, falling between dates in Boston and New York. The tour is produced by Live Nation. Presale tickets will go on sale on Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. at axs.com.
Richie began his career with The Commodores, for whom he wrote the hits “Easy,” “Three Times a Lady” and “Still,” among others. His solo hits since the 1980s have included “Hello,” “Say You, Say Me” and “Endless Love.” He is known to a later generation of pop fans as a judge on “American Idol.”
Earth, Wind & Fire has been around since 1969 and still has three founding members in its lineup: bassist Verdine White, vocalist Philip Bailey and percussionist Ralph Johnson. The band can have over a dozen members on tour. Earth, Wind & Fire’s hits include “September,” “Shining Star” and its interpretation of The Beatles’ “Got to Get You Into My Life.”
Earth, Wind & Fire is on tour with Lionel Richie, playing PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford on July 10. (Live Nation)
Both acts have been touring in Connecticut since the 1970s. In the past decade, Earth, Wind & Fire was at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2025, 2024, 2022, 2016 and 2015 as well as at Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in 2024, 2023 and 2022 and the Stamford Palace in 2018. The last time the band played in Hartford was at the Xfinity Theatre in 2017, and the last time it played the venue now known as PeoplesBank Arena was in 1988.
Richie has played the major casinos in Connecticut five times in the past 10 years — Mohegan Sun in 2014, 2019 and 2022, and Foxwoods in 2013 and 2017.
The Commodores, the group which Richie left in 1982 but which still performs many of the hits Richie wrote for them, also visit the state regularly, including Foxwoods in 2021 and 2023.
The show is just the latest of numerous concert events at PeopleBank Arena since the former XL Center was rebranded and renovated last year. Upcoming shows include Ricardo Arjona on Feb. 6, Journey on March 14, TobyMac on March 27, Cardi B on April 3 and Romeo Santos and Prince Royce on April 18.
A full schedule of shows at PeoplesBank Arena is available at peoplesbankarena.com.
