VH1 debuted the first annual VH1 Divas concert in 1998. VH1 Divas Live was created to support the channel's Save The Music Foundation and subsequent concerts in the series have also benefited that foundation. The VH1 Divas concerts were a follow-up to the channel's annual VH1 Honors benefit concert that ran from 1994 to 1997, airing annually from 1998 to 2004. [1] After a five-year hiatus, the series returned in 2009 with a younger-skewed revamp. In 2010 the concert saluted the troops and in 2011 it celebrated soul music, doubling the previous year's ratings. After a dance music-focused 2012 edition aired live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on December 16, 2012, the show took another hiatus before being revived on December 5, 2016, at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York with a holiday theme and achieved its highest ratings in over a decade.[2]
| VH1 Divas Live | |
| Type: | live |
| Artist: | VH1 Divas Live |
| Cover: | VH1 Divas Live 98 (album cover art).jpg |
| Released: | October 6, 1998 |
| Recorded: | April 14, 1998 |
VH1 Divas Live: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live on April 14, 1998.
The first "VH1 Divas" show, at New York City's Beacon Theatre, featured international music stars Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, Mariah Carey and Shania Twain. In a guest appearance, singer-songwriter Carole King led the performers through versions of her songs "You've Got a Friend" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman."
The show was produced by Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich, directed by Michael Simon and written by producer/writer Martin Lewis.
| Chart | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200[3] | 21 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 12 |
| French Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique | 7 |
| Netherlands MegaCharts | 7 |
| Norwegian VG-lista | 9 |
| New Zealand Recorded Music NZ | 10 |
(in order of appearance)[4] [5]
Aretha's band was used for her duet with Mariah Carey ("Chain of Fools") and the finale ("A Natural Woman" and "Testimony").
| VH1 Divas Live/99 | |
| Type: | live |
| Artist: | VH1 Divas Live |
| Released: | November 1999 |
| Recorded: | April 13, 1999 |
| Length: | 73:00 |
| Label: | VH1 |
| Prev Title: | VH1 Divas Live |
| Prev Year: | 1998 |
| Next Title: | VH1 Divas Las Vegas |
| Next Year: | 2002 |
VH1 Divas Live/99: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live on April 13, 1999.
| Chart (2000) | Provider | Peak position | Certification | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | ARIA | 11 | Gold[6] | |
| Austrian Albums Chart | Media Control | 43 | ||
| French Albums Chart | SNEP/IFOP | 42 | ||
| Dutch Albums Chart | IFPI | 41 | ||
| German Top 100 Albums | Media Control | 60 | ||
| Swiss Top 100 Albums | Media Control | 14 | ||
| U.S. Billboard 200 | Billboard | 90 | Gold (CD) / Gold (DVD) |
VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute to Diana Ross – An Honors Concert for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation was the first of three concerts in the series not aired live. It was recorded on April 9, 2000 at New York's Madison Square Garden and first aired on April 11, 2000. Diana Ross requested the concert be recorded as time constraints for the airing of commercials would not allow enough time for her to change costumes. The well-received show took a mammoth 6 hours to record. This special also marked the re-introduction of Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne as Supremes, who were touring with Diana Ross. Laurence and Payne were Supremes during the 1970s.
The concert was never released on CD or DVD. Two of the songs were released as b-sides of singles from Mariah Carey and Destiny's Child.
The event occurred on April 10, 2001, and was released on CD/DVD in 2017 by MVD Visual.
| VH1 Divas Las Vegas | |
| Type: | live |
| Artist: | VH1 Divas Live |
| Cover: | Vh1divas.jpg |
| Released: | October 22, 2002 |
| Recorded: | May 23, 2002 |
| Label: | VH1 |
VH1 Divas Las Vegas: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live from the MGM Grand Las Vegas on May 23, 2002. For the first time, Divas Live broadcast from a city other than New York. This time around, Las Vegas played host city to the fifth Divas concert.
After being invited by Whitney Houston in 1999, an appearance that gave her big publicity worldwide, Mary J. Blige asked her friend to join her on Divas three years later to perform together her song "Rainy Dayz".
A CD/DVD of the concert was released later that year, but not all the performances or performers (most notably those of co-headliner Mary J. Blige) were included, due to various record label issues.
VH1 Divas Duets: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live from the MGM Grand Las Vegas on May 22, 2003.
Chaka Khan, Beyoncé, Lisa Marie Presley, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Jewel, Ashanti, Sharon Osbourne, Aisha Tyler, Stevie Wonder, Pat Benatar, Shania Twain, Bobby Brown and the Isley Brothers joined host Queen Latifah when "VH1 Divas Duets: A Benefit Concert for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation" aired live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Thursday, May 22 at 9:00pm (ET/PT). Tarralyn Ramsey was the winner of VH!'s reality competition Born to Diva and performed on stage with the Divas as well.
The concert was never released on CD or DVD.
VH1 Divas: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live from the MGM Grand Las Vegas on April 18, 2004.
The show marks the first appearance of close friends and R&B and soul legends Patti LaBelle (who was told by producers she would be considered "top dog" [7]) and Gladys Knight after they had turned down previous offers to appear. Gladys could never stay for the finale due to obligations with her one-woman show at the famed Flamingo Las Vegas. Kylie Minogue was originally confirmed as a headliner for the 1980s themed show, but withdrew shortly after.
Aside from the normal set of presenters, the concert also featured video testimonials from Chaka Khan, Carly Simon, Gloria Estefan, Mary J. Blige, Vanessa Williams, Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams, Kathy Griffin (in what would prove to be the first of three consecutive appearances), Marg Helgenberger and Usher on the word "diva", their favorite divas, as well as the importance of music education in schools.
The concert was never released on CD or DVD.
VH1 Divas: An Honors Concert For The VH1 Save The Music Foundation aired live on September 17, 2009, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, New York. Paula Abdul hosted and performed. This concert was never released on CD or DVD.
VH1 Divas Salute The Troops was the second of the three concerts in the series not aired live. It was recorded on Friday, December 3, 2010, at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar while Paramore was filmed earlier in the week at Army Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. The special first aired on Sunday, December 5, 2010 and broadcast internationally by the Armed Forces Network.[8] [9]
The concert also featured a telecast featuring First Lady Michelle Obama, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé (in her third appearance on the series), Fergie, P!nk, Ke$ha and Carrie Underwood delivering special messages to the troops. Certain select servicemen and women from Miramar, Naval Base Coronado, Camp Pendleton, and Camp Arifjan[10] were also presented in video portraits, documenting their careers and journey in the US military.
This show was never released on CD or DVD.
and several servicemen and servicewomen
VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul was the third of three concerts in the series not aired live. It was taped on December 18, 2011, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City,[13] and aired the next evening on VH1, paying tribute to the places that helped create or contributed to soul music: Chicago, Detroit, London, Philadelphia and Memphis.[14]
Anita Baker, who was going to sing with Jill Scott, had to drop out moments before the concert after disagreements with producers,[15] allowing Marsha Ambrosius and Ledisi to step in and perform in their places during the Detroit medley.[16] Kelly Clarkson twisted her ankle on the way into the concert, though she still performed as planned.
The concert was never released on CD or DVD.
VH1 Divas 2012 aired live on December 16, 2012 from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The show was hosted by Adam Lambert and celebrated the dance-inducing music that is the vibrant soundtrack to every major blowout bash, unforgettable party and night out on the town. The show also paid tribute to the late music legends who died earlier that year: Whitney Houston and Donna Summer.
VH1 Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night was recorded on December 2, 2016, at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn, airing December 5, 2016.[17] The concert was a holiday-themed celebration of music and pop-culture's greatest divas. The lineup included 'the Queen of Christmas' Mariah Carey, who returned to the Divas stage after 16 years for her third appearance, and Mariah's godmother, the iconic Patti LaBelle. Teyana Taylor and Vanessa Williams made debut appearances on the VH1 Divas stage, while the legendary Chaka Khan returned for her fourth time.[18] The concert was the highest rated VH1 Divas broadcast in over a decade.
Saturday Night Live performers Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri frequently spoofed Dion, Twain and Carey, most memorably in the opening moments of Divas '99 where they portrayed the songstresses attempting to order a pizza before watching the concert. On February 10, 2001, Jennifer Lopez starred in an SNL skit where she battled Mango onstage at VH1 Divas, with Tracy Morgan as Franklin, Maya Rudolph as Diana Ross, and Gasteyer and Shannon both reprising their impressions of Dion and Twain respectively.
Many of the featured performers are satirized as characters on the popular web parody Got 2B Real.[19]
On season 3 of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, the second challenge of the season was a Divas parody. Aja portrayed Amy Winehouse, BeBe Zahara Benet was Diana Ross, BenDeLaCreme was Julie Andrews, Chi Chi DeVayne was Patti LaBelle, Kennedy Davenport played as Janet Jackson, Milk acted as Celine Dion, Shangela was Mariah Carey, Thorgy Thor impersonated Stevie Nicks and Trixie Mattel played as Dolly Parton. Shangela and BenDeLaCreme won the challenge.
Other networks attempted to replicate the success of the Divas concerts with varying degrees of success. The year after the original Divas, BET premiered Girls Nite Out, hosted by Rachel and Joe Clair. The featured performers were Arista labelmates Deborah Cox, Faith Evans, Andrea Martin, Monica, and Shanice.[20] Lifetime hosted Women Rock! Girls & Guitars annually from 2000 to 2004, eventually shortened to simply Women Rock! and raising awareness for their campaign "Our Lifetime Commitment: Stop Breast Cancer for Life."[21] Performers over the years included Anastacia, Blondie, Kelly Clarkson, Destiny's Child, En Vogue, Melissa Etheridge, Cyndi Lauper, and Lee Ann Womack.
In 2022, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex had Carey as a guest on the second episode of her podcast Archetypes, mentioning in her interview how influential the original concert was on her and her high school classmates.[22]