Plans are underway for David Gest’s concert tour to go ahead as a tribute to the late star.
The 62-year-old star was tragically found dead in his room at the Four Seasons hotel in London on Tuesday (12.04.16) as was in the middle of organising his ‘David Gest Is Not Dead But Alive With Soul Tour’ – named after the incident that happened in the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house in January when Tiffany Pollard mistakenly thought he had passed away after Angie Bowie informed her that her ex-husband David Bowie has lost his battle with cancer.
The UK tour was to feature the comeback of British soul singer Dina Carroll after over 10 years away from the music business as well as performances from Russell Thompkins Jr, Deniece Williams, Billy Paul, Peabo Bryson, The Tymes, Freda Payne, Melba Moore, Anita Ward and Fern Kinney.
Gest’s lawyers need to thrash out the legality of whether the tour can still proceed but all the artists booked want to take to the stage in honour of their departed friend.
A source told BANG Showbiz: "Everyone involved wants the tour to go ahead, it’s what David would have wanted. He lived for music and took great pride in bringing over so many of his friends from the soul and R&B world over to the UK for so many tours over the years. At the moment it is in the hands of the lawyers as to what is going to happen but everyone involved is determined to sing in David’s memory."
Gest hosted similar soul extravaganzas over the last several years and he preferred putting on his music shows to his reality TV work – which included an unforgettable stint on ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!’ in 2006.
The producer – who was a life-long friend of the late King of Pop Michael Jackson – previously said: "There’s no bigger love in my life than soul music and I get so excited getting these legends together. Every night we have such a great time on stage and the fans who come along always leave with such big smiles."
Deniece, 65, took to Twitter to share her grief over her friend Gest.
She tweeted: "My heart is broken this morning. News of a passing away of a dear friend David Gest. A friend for over 4 decades. I will miss him dearly."
‘Beauty and the Beast’ singer Peabo also posted on the social media site to remember Gest and thank him for introducing him to the "love of his life".
The 62-year-old musician – who is married to Tanya Boniface -posted in a series of tweets: "Yes, I’ve heard the news and I’m devastated. David Gest is responsible for me finding the love of my life … My wife and I are already mourning a beloved grandmother, we lost just yesterday … My grandmother, was the greatest of all English Grand Dames. David Gest was the loyalist of friends. Both are missed (sic)"
Stars want to honour David Gest on final tour
