Adam Blackstone stopped and read the Philly Music Walk of Fame plaques on the way to his many gigs. He will have one of his own this year.
"Wherever I go, I’m representing Philly music and culture,” said the bassist, who will be honored along with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sun Ra Arkestra, Lady B., Earl Young, and more.
When Adam Blackstone moved to Philadelphia, he found himself staring at the pavement as he walked up and down Broad Street.
Blackstone, who grew up in Willingboro, honed his bass-playing skills at El-Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Trenton, where his father was the organist and his mother sang in the choir.
Coming to Philly in 2000 to study at the University of the Arts, Blackstone would hurry from classes to gigs, like playing in the pit band in the Philly Soul musical Me & Mrs. Jones at the Prince Theater.
Along the way, he realized there were musical history lessons embedded in the concrete.
“There were some things I took for granted when I first moved to Philadelphia,” said the Grammy-winning bandleader who’s served as music director to stars such as Rihanna, Eminem, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, and Jill Scott, and has played a key role in presenting the music at seven Super Bowls.
“I remember walking over those plaques not realizing they were some of the forefathers and foremothers that established the Philly music scene and how music had played such an important role in cultivating the culture of Philadelphia,” he said referring to the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame plaques on Broad Street.
“Then I started to recognize the names, and look at the plaques,” Blackstone said, speaking from his home studio in Middletown, Del. “It sounds weird, but as I moved through the street, seeing names like Teddy P. and Patti [LaBelle], I started to be careful where I walked.
“And now — 26 years later — to be afforded the same honor, it’s mind blowing. It’s just so crazy. I can’t even fathom this. When I moved to Philadelphia, I was just a kid excited to play the bass guitar.”
The honor about to be bestowed on Blackstone will be the unveiling of a plaque naming him as a member of the 2026 class of the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame.
The ceremony will take place on Wednesday in front of the Kimmel Center on Broad Street when Gladstone will be honored at the plaque unveiling at noon and then at a gala inside the Kimmel that night.
Along with Blackstone, honorees include Philadelphia Orchestra music and artistic director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Afro-Futurist ensemble Sun Ra Arkestra, the Philadelphia Boys Choir, hip-hop deejay Lady B., Phantom of the Opera actor Hugh Panaro, “Gospel Queen of Philadelphia” Louise Williams Bishop, and percussionist Pablo Batista. Philly sound drummer Earl Young — “The Man Who Invented Disco” — will receive a lifetime achievement award.
With the exception of the members of the Philadelphia Boys Choir, Blackstone, 43, is the baby of the bunch in this year’s class, which includes longstanding contributors to the sound of Philadelphia in the Sun Ra Arkesta’s Marshall Allen, who will turn 102 this month, Williams, 92, and, and Young, who’s 85.
Blackstone may not have been active as long as his elders, but the bandleader — who will join The Roots backing up Jay-Z at The Roots Picnic at Belmont Plateau on May 30 and then lead a sta-studded tribute to the soundtrack to Waiting to Exhale on May 31 — has been an extraordinarily busy musician.
He says his decision to go to UArts — the school that abruptly announced its closure two years ago this month — “helped shape, literally, who I am today.”
He cites Philly musicians like bassist Gerald Veasley, guitarist Randy Bowland, and drummer Garfield Williams “who took me under their wing and saw something in me. And I’m so thankful to carry that mantle out into the world. Because wherever I go, I’m representing Philly music and culture.”
“I had that eagerness and the willingness to learn more,” he recalls. “I was playing on records for free and doing lobby bar gigs just to see who I could meet coming in the lobby. I think that people just saw that hunger in me to be greater, you know?
“And Philly is that gritty town. Nobody looks down on anybody for doing a Bar Mitzvah gig or playing in the Sixers house band or doing a Hall and Oates cover band. People respect the hustle.”
While Blackstone was learning to appreciate Philly music history, he was also meeting those who would carry it forward, hanging out at the Black Lily showcases at the Five Spot in Old City “during the quick boom of Neo-Soul,” he said.
Early gigs included serving as Philly singer Vivian Green’s music director, which led to touring first as a bassist and then as MD for Scott on the tour for 2004’s Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2.
Blackstone first teamed with the Roots at the Jay-Z’s Fade to Black concert at Madison Square Garden in 2004, and he was also part of the band at Dave Chappelle’s Block Party that year.
Backing up LL Cool J at the Superdome in New Orleans and working with gospel group Mary Mary eventually led to touring as Eminem’s music director.
“Questlove put me on that,” Blackstone said. “Ahmir has always been an advocate of mine. I call him my MD. I’ve been very blessed to play the bass pretty good and musical direct pretty good. But my journey has really been about being nice to people and cultivating relationships.
“Each gig leads to the next. Somebody like Dr. Dre sees me with Eminem, and he’s like ‘Oh man, come rock with me when you get to L.A.’ Then Janet Jackson will see me with Dr. Dre, or somebody like Justin Timberlake will see me with Janet Jackson.
“It’s just a continual evolution of relationships, and being prepared when you get that call. I pride myself on my teamwork, but also pride myself on not being surprised by anything.”
During the COVID pandemic, Blackstone started to get the itch to make his own music.
“I started to lose people, lose family members,” he said. “It was cool to say I played with Justin Timberlake and Jill Scott, but I wanted something that my children can have their name on.
(Blackstone and his wife and manager Kaisha have a son Adam Jr., 10, — he’s a singer — and a daughter, Adea, 5.)
His first album, 2022’s Legacy, moved between gospel, jazz, and R&B, and includes Scott, Jazmine Sullivan, and Queen Latifah, among others. It was nominated for three Grammys, and while it didn’t win, Blackstone did win one for best musical theater album in 2025 for his work on Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen.
Blackstone followed Legacy up with last year’s Humble Magic, Vol. 1, a big band album inspired by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Quincy Jones. “The musical concept is about a big band as a very soulful, large ensemble,” he said.
And the title?
“It’s about God showing me how magical my gift was. How music has the power to heal and change the atmosphere. It’s magical. All while — for me — remaining humble, which is how I give my gift back. I wanted people to know that you might not hear me brag about it. But what I do is magic.”
The Philly Music Walk of Fame plaques will be unveiled Wed, May 13, at noon at the Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St. Free. The Walk of Fame gala will take place with a reception at 6 p.m. and a program at the Perelman Theater 7:30 p.m. philadelphiamusicalliance.org/events
