ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – It’s going to feel like an 80s’ dance party at Cranes Roost Park during the 11th Annual Uptown Art Expo Celebration Of Art and Music.
On March 22, pop icon, Taylor Dayne, will be headlining the first night of the event. The singer grew up in New York and first rose to fame in 1987 with her hit single, “Tell It to My Heart.”
She said there was no “yellow brick road” she had to follow to reach success. She got to where she was by putting herself out there and through hard work.
“I played in a lot of clubs in New York. I worked with numerous bands, and then I ultimately took more control and I just said, ‘I’m going to produce my own record,’ which was a single and I’m going to go for the mix shows. That means, usually that 12 o’clock, midnight show where something might cross over and radio might pick it up and fans might push it and push the DJs and the radio stations to play it, and that was “Tell It To My Heart,’” said Dayne.
“The rest is kind of history. It just blew up, went number one everywhere, it was just a single,” Dayne added.
By 24, she had sold millions of records and even opened up for Michael Jackson during his “Bad” tour from 1987 to 1989.
“It sounds surreal now because it sounds like another time, but if you remember, in the 80s, Michael Jackson basically taught us about being a pop star, showed us the path of superstardom, of arena shows, of stadiums,” said Dayne.
“It was like being a gladiator, like suddenly there you are in the stadium, you know, with the greatest artist in the world, and who you’ve admired for a million years and the roar of the lions,” she explained.
She’s also known for six other U.S. top-10 singles, including “Love Will Lead You Back,” “With Every Beat of My Heart,” “Prove Your Love,” and “I’ll Always Love You.”
Dayne wrote many of her hits, and wrote Tina Turner’s “Whatever You Want.”
“My label didn’t believe in the song, they didn’t love it, and I knew it was a crazy song. Tina Turner, she made it such a smash throughout Europe and she opened her tour with it,” Dayne said.
VIP seating tickets are on sale for some of the performances.
Here’s a list of the full schedule:
Friday, March 22:
6:30 p.m. - Kick-off concert with Gerry Williams Band
8 p.m. - Taylor Dayne
Saturday, March 23:
4 p.m. - Miguel Larsen – Acoustic current hits
6:30 p.m. - Rockit Fly
8pm - Slippery When Wet – The Ultimate Bon Jovi Tribute
Sunday, March 24:
1:30 p.m. - Will Patrick – New York-based guitarist
3 p.m. - Hayfire
The 11th Annual Uptown Art Expo runs March 22-24. The festival features displays of glass, jewelry, mosaics, paintings, photography, pottery, sculpture and more.
The expo will also have Chalk Street Art from professional chalk artists and high school art students.
Attendees will be able to vote for the “People’s Choice Chalk Awards” by placing an Uptown Art Expo gold coin into the bucket next to their favorite artwork. Winning chalk artists will get a cash prize.
There will also be an international street cuisine and food festival, food trucks, craft beer from Sanford Brewing Company and wine.
Art Festival admission is free and free parking is available in the Altamonte Mall parking lots. No coolers or pets are allowed.
Click here for more information.
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