The Human Jukebox is the
marching band
A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...
representing
Southern University and A&M College
Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...
located in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...
.
Band Profile
T. Leroy Davis is credited with establishing Southern University's marching band and served as the band director between 1947 and 1964. He also helped organize the first Southern University Band Festival and Band Day and was well-known for his contributions and achievements in music. Davis was given the title of Professor Emeritus for his many years of service to the university in 1989.
The band is anchored by the Isaac Greggs Band Hall on campus. Dr. Isaac Greggs (Doc) was an award-winning band director and alumnus of Southern University that led the band for 36 years (1969 - 2005). Under his leadership, the band grew in popularity and established a distinctive identity. In addition to having the band hall renamed in his honor, he was inducted into the Louisiana Black History Hall of Fame in 2013 and had a display case dedicated in his honor at the
National Museum of African American History and Culture
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...
in 2016.
The Human Jukebox has been consistently recognized as the best marching band in the nation by
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
,
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
,
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
, and
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
. The band is highly regarded for its powerful sound, soulful arrangements, extensive song catalog, and entertaining showmanship.
Since 1969, the Human Jukebox has been often accompanied by ''The Fabulous Dancing Dolls''. Gracie Perkins co-founded the Dolls with Dr. Greggs. The Dolls are best known for their stylish dance uniforms, graceful choreography, and beauty standards. A notable highlight in Dolls' history is when they were invited to perform with world pop-star
Madonna for her live Super Bowl halftime performance in 2012. In 2019, the Dolls were featured in Beyonce's Netflix documentary "
HΘMΣCΘMING: A film by Beyonce". In 2022, the Dolls starred in an eight-episode
docu-series
Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries.
Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film.
*Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...
executive produced by NBA player
Chris Paul
Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and “The Point God”, is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Paul is widely regarded as one o ...
on
ESPN+ entitled "Why Not Us: Southern Dance".
One of the most anticipated traditions of the Human Jukebox is the Friday night "Battle of the Bands" versus Grambling's
"World Famed" Tiger Marching Band during
Bayou Classic weekend in the
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saint ...
. The annual event draws tens of thousands of alumni, fans, and spectators. Clips of it is aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's nationally televised broadcast of Saturday's football game. A
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
video of the Human Jukebox's soulful rendition of Adele's hit single
"Hello" from the 2015 Bayou Classic Battle of the Bands went
viral which resulted in the band garnering overwhelmingly positive press both nationally and internationally. The video received over 1 million views in less than two weeks and was one of the nation's top trending topics on
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
the week of its release. In 2019,
Vice Media
Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); ...
released a
documentary detailing the historical and cultural significance of the Human Jukebox and their annual band battle against Grambling's "World Famed" Tiger Marching band in New Orleans.
In October 2017,
Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers
Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers is an American fast-food restaurant chain specializing in chicken fingers founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by Todd Graves and Craig Silvey in 1996.
History
Founders Todd Graves and Craig Silvey were both enrolled ...
(Baton Rouge-based national restaurant corporation) announced a partnership with The Southern University Human Jukebox, making Raising Cane's the "Official Chicken of the SU Human Jukebox." At the 2017 Bayou Classic Battle of the Bands, State Representative Ted James & J Morgan & Associates unveiled the official Human Jukebox state license plate for the citizens of Louisiana, making The Human Jukebox the first marching band in the nation with a license plate.
The Human Jukebox performed at the
Super Bowl six times as of 2020 and has a long-standing reputation of making appearances at many types of highly visible events. For example, in 1997, the Human Jukebox performed at the
inaugural parade for President Bill Clinton. In 2015, the Human Jukebox performed for the grand introduction of Floyd Mayweather in the
MGM Grand Arena of Las Vegas for "
The Fight of The Century". Top 100 Billboard artist
Lizzo
Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After college she ...
featured the Human Jukebox and Fabulous Dancing Dolls in her 2019 music video "
Good as Hell". The Human Jukebox and Fabulous Dancing Dolls traveled to Pasadena, California in December 2019 to participate in the 131st
Rose Parade on New Years day. This was the marching band's second appearance in the parade, with the first occurring 40 years ago in 1980.
The Human Jukebox is one of the most watched and followed collegiate marching bands in the nation with over 200,000 followers o
Facebook over 100,000 subscribers o
YouTube over 90,000 followers o
Instagram and several
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
videos reaching over 1 million views.
Primary Repertoire
The Human Jukebox primary
repertoire
A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform.
Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a ...
includes the following:
*The SU Alma Mater
*The SU Fight Song
*The SU Spirit Song, inspired by a
19th century Gospel song
*"Do Watcha Wanna", a
New Orleans brass band classic
*"Talkin' Out the Side of Your Neck", a Funk/R&B classic by
Cameo
*"I Don't Give A", a Hip-Hop song by
Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz
*"Black and Blues", a Jazz/R&B song by
Al Jarreau
*"I'm So Glad I Go to Southern U.", inspired by "I'm So Glad" from
Delta blues legend
Skip James
Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressive ...
Band Leadership
See also
*
Jackson State–Southern University rivalry
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
*
Honda Battle of the Bands The Honda Battle of the Bands (sometimes abbreviated The Honda or HBOB) is an annual marching band exhibition in the United States which features performances by bands from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Sponsored by the Amer ...
*
Grambling State-Southern University rivalry
References
External links
*
{{Marching Bands of the Southwestern Athletic Conference
Southern University
African-American culture
Southwestern Athletic Conference marching bands
Musical groups from Louisiana
Musical groups established in 1947
1947 establishments in Louisiana