KC & The Sunshine Band - Biography

With sales of over 100 million records, nine Grammy nominations, three Grammy Awards and an American Music Award, KC and The Sunshine Band is one of the seminal forces in pop. In more than 25 years of making music, the group developed an original funk style that continues to delight old fans and attract new ones into the millennium.


Hits like GET DOWN TONIGHT, THAT'S THE WAY (I LIKE IT) and SHAKE YOUR BOOTY established KC & the Sunshine Band as movers and shakers in the music business. Along with the Beatles and the Jackson Five, KC's the only new artist to have four number one singles in the span of one year: BOOGIE SHOES, GET DOWN TONIGHT, THAT'S THE WAY (I LIKE IT), and ROCK YOUR BABY.


Harry Wayne Casey - KC for short - started working in the music business at age 17, performing menial tasks around the T.K. Records/Studio complex in his hometown of Miami. He formed The Sunshine Band in 1973, by which time he had begun writing songs, playing keyboards and producing for the band and for other T.K. artists. The Sunshine Band's first single, BLOW YOUR WHISTLE, made the R&B top 15. His second album, KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND, was released in 1975, went triple platinum and contained the Number 1 hits GET DOWN TONIGHT and THAT'S THE WAY (I LIKE IT). KC's third album, PART 3, released in 1976, also went triple platinum and spawned the Number 1 singles I'M YOUR BOOGIE MAN, SHAKE YOUR BOOTY and KEEP IT COMIN' LOVE.


In 1978, he added yet another hit with BOOGIE SHOES, which was included on the SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER soundtrack. The next year, KC had a number one hit with PLEASE DON'T GO, and hit the Top Five with YES, I'M READY, a duet with high school friend Teri DeSario. KC returned to the charts in 1983 with GIVE IT UP, a Number 1 hit in the U.K. and a Top Twenty smash in the United States.


In 1976, KC won a songwriting Grammy for best R&B song for WHERE IS THE LOVE, which was recorded by Betty Wright. He also received Grammy Awards for Album of the Year as well as Producer of the Year in 1978 for his work on the SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER soundtrack. In 1975 he won the American Music Award for Best R&B Artist. In 2001, KC was honored with the NARAS Governors Award, the highest honor given by a chapter of the Academy.


KC's music continues to be a favorite today. His songs have appeared in ads for companies like General Motors, Burger King, Nestlé Toll House Cookies, K Mart, Old Navy, and Nick at Night. His music has also been featured in over 75 movies such as Forrest Gump (Get Down Tonight); Boogie Nights (Boogie Shoes); Boys Don't Cry (Rock Your Baby), Rush Hour (Get Down Tonight); Carlito's Way (Rock Your Baby, Shake Your Booty & That's the Way I Like It). KC songs are regularly heard at sporting events, from Wrigley Field to the University of Tennessee to hundreds of high school gymnasiums across America.