Kool & The Gang – Celebration

“Celebration” is a single from the album Celebrate! Released in 1980. Format Vinyl record.
This post-disco, upbeat dance song was Kool & the Gang’s first and only single to reach No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It is commonly played at weddings, parties, sporting events and just about anywhere there is something to be celebrated.

No one close to the band was surprised by the song’s enduring popularity as a celebratory anthem. In fact, lead singer J.T. Taylor’s mother predicted it. Taylor told Billboard: “My mother told me when she heard it, ‘You’re gonna play this song for the rest of your life – so get ready!”

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Kool & The Gang – Celebration

03:37

The song is appropriate at everything from a bar mitzvah to a graduation because the lyrics are so generic, referring to a “party,” “good times” and a “celebration.”

Like “Ladies Night,” this features backing vocals from the female group Something Sweet.

Wondering how this got in the “Songs with names of cities in the title” category? There is a city in Florida called Celebration. It’s associated with Disney and is a bucolic tourist destination.

In 2021, “Celebration” made the Library of Congress National Recording Registry, chosen for works of “cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.”

Kool & The Gang
Bass – Robert “Kool” Bell
Lead guitar – Charles Smith
Keyboards, saxophone, backing vocals – Ronald Bell
Drums, percussion, backing vocals – George Brown
Lead and backing vocals – James “J.T.” Taylor
Alto saxophone – Dennis Thomas
Trumpet, backing vocals – Robert Mickens
Keyboards, backing vocals – Earl Toon, Jr.
Keyboards – Kevin Bell
Additional keyboards – Adam Epolito
Backing vocals – Cedric Toon, Meekaeel Muhammad, Robert Bell, Coffee, Something Sweet
Orchestra arranged and conducted by – Eumir Deodato

Lyrics:
Celebrate good times, come on!
Let’s celebrate
Celebrate good times, come on!
Let’s celebrate

There’s a party goin’ on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you

Come on now
Celebration
Let’s all celebrate and have a good time
Celebration
We gonna celebrate and have a good time

It’s time to come together
It’s up to you, what’s your pleasure
Everyone around the world
Come on!

Yahoo!
It’s a celebration
Yahoo!
Celebrate good times, come on!

It’s a celebration
Celebrate good times, come on!
Let’s celebrate

There’s a party goin’ on right here
A dedication to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate and party with you

Come on now
Celebration
Let’s all celebrate and have a good time yeah yeah
Celebration
We gonna celebrate and have a good time

It’s time to come together
It’s up to you, what’s your pleasure
Everyone around the world
Come on!
Yahoo! It’s a celebration
Yahoo! It’s a celebration
Celebrate good times, come on!
Let’s celebrate, come on now
Celebrate good times, come on!
Let’s celebrate
Celebrate good times, come on!
Let’s celebrate

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