Wild Cherry was an American funk-rock band formed in 1970 in Mingo Junction, Ohio, by lead singer and guitarist Rob Parissi. Although the band released four studio albums, they are best known for their 1976 smash hit, Play That Funky Music.
Their signature song has an interesting origin. While performing in Pittsburgh, someone in the audience reportedly shouted, “Play some funky music, white boys!” Parissi wrote the song shortly afterward, turning the experience into one of the biggest crossover hits of the 1970s. It reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard R&B chart, sold over two million copies in the U.S., and earned the band two Grammy nominations.
Some of their best-known songs include:
- Play That Funky Music (No. 1 hit)
- Hot to Trot
- Baby Don’t You Know
- I Love My Music
Their studio albums were:
- Wild Cherry (1976)
- Electrified Funk (1977)
- I Love My Music (1978)
- Only the Wild Survive (1979)