Grammy Award Nominee Robbie Dupree is a native of Brooklyn, NY, where he began his musical journey singing a cappella on the street corners of the East New York section. It was there in the basement of a friend that he spent years honing his skills as a Singer, Guitarist and Harmonica player.
Robbie Dupree & Friends Live recording from Bearsville Theater October 2, 2010 featured as Episode 4, of the Bearsville Uncut Series and featured a very special guest collaboration.
Dupree was influenced by classic soul artists such as Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye. In the early ’70s, he was singing with the group New World Rising, whose guitarist, Nile Rodgers went on to a successful career as a producer, songwriter, and leader of the band Chic.
A pop/rock singer and songwriter, Robbie is known for his smooth but gently vocal style. Relocating to Woodstock in the 70’s, he spent much of his time here working with variety of different bands, touring regularly while during that time polishing his sound and honing his talents in song writing. In 1978 he relocated to Los Angeles and reinvented himself as a solo act. He landed a contact with Elektra Records, and in 1980, with the help of producers Rick Chudacoff and Peter Bunetta, released his self-titled debut album, which saw two major hit singles, ‘Steal Away’, which rose to number six on the Top Singles chart, and ‘Hot Rod Hearts’, which peaked at 15.
All Night Long in 1998 included appearances from Tony Levin, another of our Bearsville Theater artists and John Hall. Following this in 1993, ‘Robbie Dupree with David Sancious’ was a jazz orientated set. The worked together again, on the 2010 album Time and Tide.
In 2020, it occurred that internet comedians created a new scene, intended to embrace the soft rock sound of the 70’s and 80’s in a series of tributes to what they called ‘yacht rock’. It was this that gave Dupree a career resurgence. Jimmy Fallon invited Dupree to appear on his talk show as part of this yacht rock tribute. From this, Robbie began playing occasional shows with Atlanta-based band called The Yacht Rock Review, and in 2015 he took part in a “Rock the Yacht; tour that also featured the Little River Band, Stephen Bishop, Ambrosia and Player.
Following this, Dupree, returned to more serious themes with a benefit EP titled Arc of a Romance, and he released the single ‘In God’s Country’, in 2014, that included a contribution from fellow soft rock icon Christopher Cross. The year 2015 saw the release of Anthology: 1998-2014, an album drawn from live appearances by Robbie and his touring band.