Story By: KRISTEN LESTOCK / NHMS – LOUDON, NH – Race fans will really be “Working for the Weekend” in the run up to this summer’s major NASCAR event in Loudon. It’s official: members of the multi-platinum-selling rock band, Loverboy, will bring their 80s classics to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway frontstretch stage on Sunday, July 22.
The Canadian rock band will perform a pre-race concert at 11:00 a.m. prior to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. Among Loverboy’s extensive number of Billboard hits, fans will get to hear “Lovin’ Every Minute of It,” “Turn Me Loose,” “Working for the Weekend” and “Hot Girls in Love.”
“Our fans, no matter what age, are going to have such a blast rocking out to Loverboy when they hit the pre-race stage,” said David McGrath, executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “This band’s music is still being heard on the radio in regular rotation to this day. Their hits remain incredibly popular to all audiences, with songs that just get you pumped up. That’s exactly what we want heading into the race.”
For more than 30 years, Loverboy has been a fixture on the rock ‘n’ roll scene, touring nationally, delighting audiences around the world since forming in Calgary, Alberta when vocalist Mike Reno was introduced to local guitar hot shot Paul Dean. Not long after finding the spotlight, the band found themselves playing on mega tours with Journey, Bob Seger, Cheap Trick, ZZ Top, Kansas and Def Leppard to name a few. They quickly became MTV darlings, being one of the first bands ever featured on the music channel.
“I’m a normal guy up until 10 minutes before we hit the stage,” says Dean, who still claims to be able to fit into the same pair of red leather pants he wore on the “Queen Of The Broken Hearts” video in 1983. “Then the heart rate goes up, and I consciously step into the bubble, and I don’t come out of it until 30 seconds after that last cymbal smash and I walk off-stage.”
Loverboy is no stranger to NASCAR, and hit single “Working for the Weekend” was even featured in a 2012 Toyota commercial featuring Kyle Busch.
With their trademark red leather pants, bandannas, big rock sound and high-energy live shows, Loverboy has sold more than 10 million albums, earning four multi-platinum plaques, including the four-million-selling “Get Lucky” and a trio of double-platinum releases in their self-titled 1980 debut, 1983’s “Keep It Up” and 1985’s “Lovin’ Every Minute Of It.” Their string of hits includes, in addition to the anthem “Working For The Weekend,” such arena rock staples as “Lovin’ Every Minute Of It,”This Could Be The Night,” “Hot Girls In Love,” “The Kid Is Hot Tonite,” “Turn Me Loose,” “When It’s Over,” “Heaven In Your Eyes” and “Queen Of The Broken Hearts.”
Aside from Reno and Dean, Loverboy still includes original members Doug Johnson on keyboards and Matt Frenette on drums with Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve (a former member of Dean and Frenette’s pre-Loverboy band Streetheart), who replaced the late Scott Smith on bass and continues a healthy touring schedule around the world.
