Shaggy, Sting To Host One Fine Day Music Festival In Philadelphia

Grammy Award-winning singer Shaggy and English musician Sting are set to host and headline the One Fine Day music festival at the Mann Centre on September 9, 2023.

Among the other acts will be Grammy winner Koffee, Thundercat, Tank and the Bangas, and Philadelphia- based rock band G.Love & Special Sauce as well as Kes, Flor de Toloache and Giordana Angi.

The festival will use both the TD Pavilion and the Skyline Stage at Fairmount Park’s outdoor music venue. General ticket sales will commence tomorrow, (May 19).

Shaggy told Live Nation Entertainment that teaming up with his English counterpart is always an amalgamation of uniqueness that complement each other.

“Sting is a catalyst for musical curiosity,” Shaggy said.

“When we collaborate, we combine our musical tastes, individual cultures and a sense of wonder. We wanted to invite some of our favorite musicians to gather in real time and share some of that very vibe at One Fine Day.” 

Meanwhile, Sting shared similar sentiments with the outlets, going further by citing the success the duo has managed to achieve with previous projects.

“I love how Shaggy and I effortlessly push each other to creative edges,” Sting said. “After having made the ’44/876′ album together and recording an album of Frank Sinatra covers in a reggae style, a day of hits and musical adventures in one of our favorite cities seemed like the next illogical step!” 

In a Q&A video sent to DancehallMag last May, Sting revealed the uncanny manner in which the idea to conceptualise Com Fly Wid Mi came about.

“About three years ago, Shaggy and myself, Sting, were on tour in Europe and we were in Oslo and it was a nice day off so we rented a boat and we went into the fjord,” the British singer began.

“We had a few beers, yeah, and there was a record player, you know, like a CD player. It was playing Frank Sinatra’s greatest hits. So, I come out of the water and I’m heading back into the boat and I hear somebody joining in with Frank Sinatra, and it was this man (points to Shaggy),” he said, adding that the song being rendered was Come Fly With Me.

“It sounded pretty good because you have the same kind of voice as Frank…he’s a baritone tenor; not a tenor, but a baritone so Frank had that fantastic tone, but in a high range. I think, ‘Shaggy, you like his music?’ And he was like, ‘yeah.’ And this little light went off in my head and I had this idea in my head. It may be the craziest idea I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a few. But I thought, what about Frank Sinatra Songbook, sung by Shaggy, in a Reggae style. Who’s ever done that before?,” Sting recalled.

The 17-track project debuted on May 25, 2022. It boasts reggae interpretations of some of ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ most beloved songs, kicking off with the uplifting ode to resilience That’s Life, followed by Come Fly with Me. The album also includes the sultry, That Old Black Magic, the metaphoric euphoria of being in love embodied on Fly Me to the Moon, and the misery of lost love on Angel Eyes, Luck Be a Lady, Witchcraft, and Under My Skin.

In 2019, Shaggy and Sting copped the Grammy Award for the Best Reggae Album, for 44/876.  The album was released in April 2018 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart and peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard 200.   It also charted in the United Kingdom, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, Australia, Austria, France, Italy, and Germany where it debuted at number one.