Story by Donna Thornton
The dates are set and so is the main musical lineup for 2025 Boom Days in Fort Payne.
The two-day celebration of music, arts, and the city’s heritage will be Sept. 19-20. While many of the crafters, vendors, and other entertainers who will be part of the event are still in the planning stage, city leaders announced the main stage artists on Monday.
As they say in one of their hits, Grand Funk Railroad will be “comin’ to your town” and they’ll “help you party it down,” on Friday night, Sept. 19.
“You cannot talk about rock in the 1970s without talking about Grand Funk Railroad!” David Fricke, wrote in Rolling Stone magazine, but you don’t need a time machine to know the band’s best. Mega-hits “We’re an American Band”, “I’m Your Captain/Closer to Home,” “The Locomotion,” and “Some Kind of Wonderful” still receive heavy airplay on Classic Rock radio and pop up on movie soundtracks and commercials.
Grammy Award-winners The Band Perry popped on the country music scene about 15 years ago, selling 2.5 million albums, 12 million singles, and racking up more than a billion total song streams. Their groundbreaking crossover 9X Platinum #1 single “If I Die Young” off their self-titled debut album reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Hot AC charts, and the Top 15 on the Billboard 100.
Their follow up album-Pioneer-reached #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and featured “Better Dig Two,” “Done,” “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely,” and “Chainsaw,” cementing the band’s status domestically and internationally.
The band took a hiatus, but reunited this year and are set to release new music soon, timed to mark the band’s 15-year anniversary.
The Band Perry is slated to play Boom Days Saturday, from 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
Grand Ole Opry member Mark Wills is no stranger to Fort Payne; he performed here at June Jam 2024. Wills is set to take the stage from 8 p.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, and he’s sure to bring his biggest hits: “19(90)
Somethin’,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” “I Do (Cherish You),” and “Don’t Laugh at Me.” Wills has recorded Gold and Platinum albums and released some of the most enduring and recognizable Country Music hits of the last 25 years.
Fittingly, Wills’ early chart success earned him an Academy of Country Music Award for Top New Male Vocalist in 1998. One of his biggest hits to date is the RIAA Gold-certified “19 Somethin’” – a six-week No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
