Lloyd Price was known as ‘Mr. Personality’ after his 1959 hit single, "Personality," but his largely-untold story has now been captured in a brand new musical.
He became the first teenager to sell over a million records and earn a gold record, which was quite remarkable for a young Black recording artist at that time.
“We need to make sure that the roots of who we are and what we are and what we’ve done does not get erased,” says Saint Aubyn, who plays Price in the new musical, “Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical,” now on stage at the Studebaker Theatre.
In this pre-civil rights era, Price was somehow able to overcome the race barrier, explains Aubyn.
“He knew he had something special in him, and no matter what obstacle he faced, he still did it," he said.
Not only did Price have a couple of mega hits, he is credited with being the first musician of color to start his own label, and the first Black person to open a nightclub in new York.
Performer Stanley Wayne Mathis, who plays Price’s manager Harold Logan, thinks this recognition is long overdue.
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“He helped a lot of artists navigate their way through. And for him not to be known and for him not to be celebrated along with the others it’s a shame. He should be known we should know who he is," he said.
The musical is based on extensive conversations book writer B. Jeffrey Madoff had with Price before he died.
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Jeffrey Madoff said he cried afterwards, Mathis shares with NBC Chicago.
“He cried, he said 'man, that’s my life on stage.' I just think our elders deserve that. Now an ancestor. They deserve that," he said.
"Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical" is on stage at the Studebaker Theater in the historic Fine Arts Building on Michigan Avenue.
