![]()
We truly appreciate all the support you have shown us over the many decades. The world has changed for all of us, our lives have changed immeasurably, the music industry has changed significantly - yet - YOU - our fans, have made our journey a road of blessings and for that we are truly thankful. For the new fans who have just found this page, we welcome you with open arms, we will give you a brief run down of who Ohio Players are:
![]()
Originally formed in Dayton, Ohio in 1959 as the Ohio Untouchables, the group went through many changes until finding global success in the mid 1970's. During our heights we produced 17 Top 40 hits, with three platinum and five gold selling albums in a row. Including songs such as ‘Skin Tight’, ‘Fire’, ‘Love Rollercoaster’ and ‘Who'd She Coo?’, Sweet Sticky Thang, Jive Turkey, I Want to be Free, Let's Love, It's All Over, Angel, Contradiction, Good Luck Charm, O.H.I.O., and many more.....
We are fortunate that our music has been kept alive throughout the years, our songs have been used everywhere; from Good Morning America, McDonald’s, Burger King and Volkswagen commercials to movies such as Final Destination, Italian Job, Next Friday and TV shows such The Bernie Mac Show and The Sopranos. In 2004
the Players were given a prestigious BMI award for the use of the song
‘Fire’ on 14 seasons of Hell’s Kitchen.
The Players sound also helped paved the way
for the next generation of funkateers; samples of our music have been used by acts such as Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Ice Cube, Ice-T, Beastie
Boys, Public Enemy, Jay-Z, Outkast, Notorious BIG, 2Pac, Mary J Blige
and a great many others. Our songs have also been covered by a vast
array of artists including Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Jazz musicians
Alex Bugnon and Paul Jackson JR.
![]()
In 2013, the Players were
inducted into the inaugural class of the Official R&B Music Hall of
Fame and for 2015, for the first time in almost 30 years - Ohio Players are back
with new music!
The original Players members of
James ‘Diamond’ Williams, Billy Beck, Clarence
‘Chet’ Willis and Robert ‘Kuumba’ Jones - are ready to put the FUNK back into modern music, but we are going to need your help to do it!
We still perform, we are very active and are often asked by friends, fans and industry peers alike, when to expect new music from Ohio Players. The truth is; we are striving to be independent artists, free of label control, we want to establish our own platform, our own label and make our own creative choices. Although the band has existed in one form or another for over half a century, we feel young and vibrant and with the great opportunities of today, this feels like a new beginning for us.
For this reason our new album will be called "Reset" - we would also like to push a reset on the whole music industry, to go back to the time of real musicians and the days of bands making relevant music for our time. We are calling on the help of our loyal and loving fans to make this dream come true for all of us! If you would love to hear that timeless signature Players funk groove with a mature and refined edge, we would love to bring it to you!
Your contributions to our campaign will go solely to making the best album we can possibly make, hiring producers, engineers, paying for studio time, for writing, recording and mixing sessions, administrative costs, travel costs and paying for contributions from the many artists that inspire us.
We would like this to be a truly interactive experience - Where - YOU - our beloved fans tell us what you would like to hear and who you would like to see us collaborate with. Along with merch goodies, tee shirts, signed albums, we have a lot of archive material featuring past legendary Players members. We would also like to reach out to you personally; phone calls, backstage passes, even studio hang outs, to make you feel fully submerged in this process as we attempt to create history and push the RESET! on good new music!
