Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Joe Walsh’s eighth annual VetsAid concert in support of military veterans charities will take place at UBS Arena in Elmont. Walsh, Kool & the Gang, Toto and Eric Church announced the venue and organization on Monday. Walsh had announced the Nov. 11 date of the show in May and said at the time that it would be in Queens.
Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday at Ticketmaster.com, with prices starting at $54.50.
“VetsAid 2024 is all about family, friends and faith. I honor my wife’s family and their legacy of service to their home borough of Queens,” Walsh, 76, said in a statement. His wife, VetsAid co-founder Marjorie Walsh, is originally from Rosedale, Queens, and is the daughter of a World War II Air Force veteran and a Purple Heart recipient, the organization said.
In addition, VetsAid said Walsh’s father was a flight instructor for the United States’ first operational jet aircraft, the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, and died while stationed and on active duty in Okinawa when Walsh was 20 months old.
Walsh, who succeeded Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon with the groundbreaking album “Hotel California” (1976), is known for his virtuoso playing and quirky sense of humor. His 25 biggest solo hits include “Rocky Mountain Way” and “Life’s Been Good.”
The 60-year-old R&B/funk group Kool & the Gang, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, still includes co-founder Robert “Kool” Bell, aka Muhammad Bayyan. The band’s 12 top 10 singles include the 1980 No. 1 hit “Celebration,” as well as classics such as “Ladies Night” and “Jungle Boogie.”
Toto was formed in 1977 as an all-star ensemble of Southern California session musicians and is known for the number one single “Africa” in 1982 and the number two hit “Rosanna” from the same year. Toto is fronted by founding member Steve Lukather and Joseph Williams, who joined the band in the mid-1980s and returned to the band in 2010.
Eric Church is a popular outlaw country singer who has won numerous awards from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association.
“We have something for everyone at VetsAid this year – country, pop, rock, funk and gospel – so everyone is on board!” Walsh said in his statement.
He added: “I honor our shared belief in the power of music to bring fans of all backgrounds together in a common celebration, and our belief in the power of love that unites us all as Americans to support a population of veterans who have sacrificed so much and asked so little in return.”
All net proceeds from the concert go directly to select veterans charities. To date, VetsAid says it has paid out nearly $3.5 million.
