Maxwell has been an ever-lasting fixture on Black radio and music charts for nearly three decades. His Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite album inspired new classifications such as neo-classic and progressive soul because of its originality. Maxwell continues to bring his Serenade Tour across the country with opening acts Jazmine Sullivan and October London and recently touched down at Prudential Center in Newark. New Jersey.
The three-time Grammy Award winner takes fans on a musical journey that begins with his 1996 hit “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder),” which closed the evening. Maxwell asks the crowd if they are ready for the “Oooh,” referring to the elongated high note he sings before a word is uttered in the hit.
The Brooklyn, New York-born singer performed many of his hits, including “Fortunate,” “Get To Know Ya,” “Lake By the Ocean,” “Sumthin’ Sumthin,’” “Matrimony: Maybe You” and “Lifetime.”
The multiplatinum-selling artist, who performed for NPR’s Tiny Desk in August, sang the hits “Bad Habits,” “Drowndeep: Hula,” and “Whenever Wherever Whatever,” before addressing the crowd.
“I just want to take a minute to express some gratitude for many years of support and encouragement from all of you,” he said.
He then insisted he wasn’t anything particularly special, which was greeted with vocal disagreement from the crowd.
“I’m like everybody else from Brooklyn, New York,” he continued. “The only thing that makes me different is that when I do what I do creatively, I’m not doing it because I want to be commercially successful. I’m doing it because I want to be culturally successful. I want to thank you for allowing me to have that as a legacy. It would not happen if it wasn’t for you.”
The Serenade Tour has eight remaining stops, including Dallas, Las Vegas and New Orleans.
He is also bringing back his Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite Cruise in February 2025 featuring Anthony Hamilton, Marsha Ambrosius, Lalah Hathaway, Avery*Sunshine, Terrace Martin, and Tye Tribbett, as well as two performances by Maxwell himself on a five-night excursion that will make stops at George Town in the Cayman Islands and Ocho Rios in Jamaica.
