The multi-platinum group Little River Band will play the Honeywell Center in Wabash on Saturday, Sept. 11, at the Ford Theater.

Since their self-titled debut in 1975, the band has topped 30 million in worldwide album and CD sales.

In 1982, the band became the first to have had Top 10 hits for six consecutive years. The remaster of their 1978 hit, “Reminiscing,” has received more than 57 million streams on Spotify and, according to BMI, has received more than five million plays over the airwaves.

In 2004 Little River Band was inducted into the Australian Recording Association Hall of Fame.

They were also awarded Casino Entertainer of the Year in 2015 at the G2E Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

According to The Herald, Old Town Association donated 10 percent of each regularly priced Little River Band ticket to fund classroom supplies after South Carolina made budget cuts in their schools in 2010.

21st Century Lineup

Today’s lineup includes longtime member Wayne Nelson on lead vocals and bass, Chris Marion on keyboards and vocals, Rich Herring on lead guitar and vocals, Ryan Ricks on percussion and vocals, and Colin Whinnery on guitar and lead vocals.

“Slowly but surely, we’ve come around to this lineup now, who have very similar musical pasts and all have the technique available to try new ideas and give them a good shot — whatever style they’re in,” Nelson told Ultimate Classic Rock’s Matt Wardlaw in 2015.

“Eventually, you just stay at it until suddenly you’ve got this great mashup of people again and away you go. You hope they stay as long as they can.”

Nelson has been with Little River Band for over four decades and has contributed to 23 Little River Band albums and CDs.

“In all these years with LRB, I’ve sung, played, and rearranged our music with many different lineups, each with a different interpretation and style,” Nelson said on the band’s website. “This group of guys is unique in that we all cut our teeth on the same types of music when we were young. We have the utmost respect for the history of the band and for what Little River Band songs mean to our fans, but we always look for a way to bring something new to the stage.

“We have fun exploring new ways to deliver the songs — recognizable and powerful, with new twists that will delight those fans who like to listen deep and analyze.”

Guitarist and lead vocalist Whinnery has toured as a guitarist with Wynonna Judd, Lonestar, Bryan White, and Savannah Jack. According to the band’s website, he has written music for televison and film projects like The Young and the Restless, All About Us, Huff, One Life to Live, and All My Children. He’s even engineered sessions for Grammy award-winning country artist Willie Nelson.

Legal Issues and Legacy

With no original members, use of the band’s name has been at the forefront of several past lawsuits. In fact, according to reporter Karl Quinn of Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian-based fans of Little River Band were, for a time, barred from accessing the website in 2017.

Two years before that, Quinn reported, the original members barred the Nelson-led band from playing the band’s classics “Lady” and “Reminiscing” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Every Day of My Life, the autobiography of founding member Beeb Birtles, recalls how the band got its name. While the band was traveling from Melbourne to Geelong, they passed the exit sign for the town of Little River.

“We ran the idea past the other guys,” the autobiography recounts, “and we all agreed it was the perfect name for us.”

New Music

The band released its latest album, Black Tie, in 2020. This volume of 12 tracks was recorded at a number of orchestra shows featuring the Craig Turley Rock Symphony.

According to the orchestra website, they have also provided backing for Broadway performer Bernadette Peters, Grammy award-winner Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin, singer-songwriter Johnny Mathis, and Mannheim Steamroller.

Tickets for the band’s Wabash performance at the Honeywell Center can be purchased at honeywellarts.org. Pre-show dining options are also available at Eugenia’s Restaurant in the Honeywell Center from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and can be found at the venue website.