Left to right, Lisa Lisa, Maxine Nightgale and Robin S

14th annual event will feature Lisa Lisa, Robin S and Maxine Nightgale

From Staff Reports

Officials with the Greg Dollgener Memorial AIDS Fund this week announced that 1980s pop star Lisa Velez, better known as Lisa Lisa, R&B diva Robin S and 1970s icon Maxine Nightingale will be headlining MetroBall 14 this summer.

This year’s MetroBall, GDMAF’s largest annual fundraising event, will be held June 7 at Station 4, 3911 Cedar Springs Road. GDAF Founder and Treasurer David Hearn said more than 700 people are expected to attend the event, which includes a silent auction featuring more than 100 items and a DJ-dance party.
Hearn said that the celebrity emcee for MetroBall would be announced by April 1.

Tickets and sponsorships are available now online at gdmaf.org/MetroBall or by contacting Hearn by email at planobar@aol.com or by phone 972-743-6323.

General admission tickets are $40 in advance and $50 at the door. A limited number of VIP packages, which include admission to a meet-and-greet session with the performers, are also available.

General admission tickets will also be available at the UPS Store on Cedar Springs, on a cash-only basis, as of April 1.

Official MetroBall sponsors include Caven Enterprises, Dallas Voice, UPS Store, Dark Hour Haunted House, Omni Hotel, Saras Secret/Condoms to Go, AHF Pharmacy, John Deluna — Design, Copy — Strategy, MMS, Gilead, Uptown Physicians, Warwick Hotel, Doug Boster Catering and Toyota of Irving.

Hearn noted that since it was founded in 1996, in honor of his late partner Greg Dollgener, GDMAF has raised more than $700,000, using that money to help more than 3,500 people with HIV/AIDS. The organization, operated completely by volunteers, helps people with HIV/AIDS cover costs — like paying rent or replacing a broken appliance — that aren’t paid for through insurance and other HIV/AIDS organizations.

In addition to assisting individuals, GDMAF also donates to other North Texas programs once their primary funding is exhausted. Those organizations include Prism Health of North Texas, AIDS Outreach Center Fort Worth, Resource Center, Access & Information Network (AIN), Health Services of North Texas Denton, Health Services of North Texas Plano, AIDS Services of Dallas, Amelia Court — Parkland Hospital and Arch Center — Children’s Medical Center Dallas, Legacy Counseling Center and AIDS Walk South Dallas.

About this year’s performers
Acknowledged as an originator of the Latin hip-hop/freestyle genre, Lisa Lisa paved the way for divas such as Gloria Estefan, Shakira, Selena and Jennifer Lopez. She had six top selling albums and sold more than 20 million records worldwide.

As the front-woman for Full Force’s Cult Jam, Lisa Lisa had a string of chart-topping songs that started with “I Wonder If I Take You Home.” Their debut album, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force, included the ballad “All Cried Out,” and earned the group their second charting single, which catapulted the album to platinum status.

Spanish Fly, her second album, released in 1987, also hit platinum with singles like as “Head to Toe” and “Lost in Emotion.”

Lisa Lisa has appeared in numerous television specials and on Broadway.

Robin S, born and raised in Queens, New York, began singing at age five in a church choir, then began vocal training at age eight with Brook Alexander, who also instructed Melba Moore.

At 15, Robin joined both jazz and cover bands in the New York metropolitan area, performing at dinner clubs, lounges, and other venues. While she was a member of the band Top Shelf, she met the owners of Homeboy Recording Studios, who began laying demo tracks for Robin’s vocals.

Her first gold single was “Show Me Love,” released in 1990 under the name Robin Stone, eventually caught the eye of executives at Big Beat Records, paving the way for her future career.

Although some may think she is out of the music scene these days, Robin said she is “like a stealth jet flying under the radar. You never know which way I am coming from or what I’m doing.

“But,” she added, “be sure of this: I am doing some really good things!”

Robin S currently has a weekly radio spot with “Gods DJ Pat Allen” out of California and is working on a new project and writing a poetry book.

Maxine Nightingale is a Grammy-nominated recording artist who has been touring the world for the past 25 years. Her multi-platinum single ”Right Back Where We Started From” hit No. 1 in 24 countries, including the U.S., and she was nominated for the “Best New Artist” Grammy in 1976 for her hit single “Right Back.” Her album Lead Me On was certified multi-platinum in 20 countries and gave her another No. 1 single, with “Lead Me On.” It stayed on the top of the U.S. music charts for a record-breaking 47 weeks. And was recently placed at No. 11 on Billboard’s All Time Contemporary Songs from the Past Century.

Nightingale has continued recording for RCA Records over the last decade, releasing numerous jazz, pop and urban contemporary CDs in the U.S. and Europe. She has shared billing with Santana, The Commodores, Lionel Richie, Boz Skaggs, The Average White Band, Rose Royce, The Temptations, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., Isaac Hayes and more.

Her song “Right Back Where I Started From” has been featured in the soundtracks for the movies Starsky and Hutch and The Family Stone, and can be heard in various commercials for Pantene Hair Conditioner.