Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 1-18-19

Feature
CeCe Peniston To Perform At Heritage Festival On Saturday
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Tampa, get ready.
The fabulousness that is CeCe Peniston is sched- uled to invade the city as part of the 19th Annual Black Her- itage Festival and Music Fest. And the talented dance artist is bringing with her all of her hits including Fi- nally, We Got a Love Thang, and Keep On Walkin’.
The Phoenix, Ariz., resi- dent is celebrating 28 years in the music business. And while the frenzied fanfare from her 1991 debut has long quieted, she still keeps a hec- tic touring schedule and has released new music as re- cently as last year.
But she’s revisiting the old hits too. Finally, which reached the top of the Bill-
CECE PENISTON
ing and you have to change or get left behind,” she said. “Keep it grown and sexy but be youthful.”
And where most musi- cians would rather shy away from social media, Peniston is very active on her Insta- gram and Facebook chan- nels, posting pictures and engaging with fans.
But it took some time to navigate the choppy social media waters, where fans praise you one day but curse you the next, as Peniston was reminded on New Year’s Day when she posted a con- troversial picture of her hind parts on her Instagram page.
But Peniston said she isn’t ashamed of the photo and won’t be bullied into feeling bad for posting it.
“I’ve learned to let stuff roll off your back,” she said. “I’m gonna be me unapolo- getically. I won’t apologize.”
Staying true to herself has helped Peniston live a “stay stress-free” lifestyle. The key is to “just enjoy life and keep friends and family around. And keep it in the gym!”
While Peniston em- braces her notoriety as a vo- calist, the Dayton, Ohio, native said she’s ready to re- veal another artistic side to
herself of which some fans may not be aware.
That includes acting and fashion design, she said.
It’s all part of keeping up with the times, Peniston said.
“You have to have several other hustles,” she said.
But some things don’t change. And that includes Peniston’s passion for singing and giving her fans a good show. And she prom- ises that her return to the Tampa Bay area won’t be the same as last year’s visit when she performed at Hamburger Mary’s in Brandon.
“I try to keep my show fresh,” she said. “I switch it up.”
But while she’ll sprinkle in some news tunes, the old catalog also will be per- formed, Peniston said.
“I promise I will do my old stuff,” she said.
If You Go
CeCe Peniston will per- form Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Tampa Bay Black Heritage Music Fest at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the gate or at www.tam- pablackheritagefestival.org.
board dance chart and sold half a million copies, has been remastered and was re- released with several mixes to mark Peniston’s 25th an- niversary.
Peniston, 49, credits her longevity to keeping up with the times musically while being true to herself.
“You have to understand that music is forever chang-
PAGE 8-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2019