Live entertainment has always been part of the Palm Beach lifestyle, from June Havoc, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Tallulah Bankhead on stage at the Paramount Theatre to Neil Simon’s California Suite at the Royal Poinciana Playhouse back in the 1960s and ʼ70s. Serving as both a respite from the busy social schedule and an enriching evening out, music and the performing arts are still very much key elements to the town’s enduring appeal. There are touring Broadway musicals at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts; opera, dance, and comedy at the new Glazer Hall; classic rock at The Colony; and cool DJ sets at nightlife hotspot Mary Lou’s. It’s little surprise that this variety of venues has played host to an equally diverse group of performers, including Dionne Warwick, Liberace, Bob Hope, Helen Hayes, Burt Reynolds, and Kiss. Yes, Kiss.
Over the last few years, amfAR, founded by Elizabeth Taylor and groundbreaking medical researcher Mathilde Krim, has featured performances by Sting, Ricky Martin, Kelly Clarkson, and Jane Krakowski at the private homes of Lisa and James Cohen, Ken Griffin, Michelle and Howard Kessler, and Amy and John Phelan. Meanwhile, the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Song Book, founded by former radio host Dick Robinson, has seen Vic Damone, Tony Bennett, Steve Tyrell, and others perform at their annual Palm Beach fundraiser. One year, the late Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney even sang an impromptu tune at the Palm Beach home of Ann and Charles Johnson. And while Jerry Seinfeld performed at the Kravis Center, comedian Chris Distefano, once called “the funniest guy on MTV,” did a stint at the Brazilian Court.
This season, the lineup at the Kravis Center will include The Commodores, Rick Springfield, Cirque du Soleil, comedians Tom Segura and Jeremy Piven, David Foster with Katherine McPhee, Itzhak Perlman, and others. The soon-to-open Glazer Hall is sure to give the Kravis Center a run for its money. Named after its founders Jill and Avie Glazer, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the impressive venue is located in the newly renovated former home of the landmarked Royal Poinciana Playhouse on Palm Beach island. To kick things off, programming includes live performances by opera legend Renée Fleming, French-Spanish musical group the Gipsy Kings, and the legendary Beach Boys. What’s more, the historic Sunset Lounge, a landmark in African American music and entertainment, and one of the most significant venues in the South during the 1940s and ʼ50s, is set to reopen in West Palm Beach this season. This important locale played host to legendary artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie when the area was segregated and Black performers were often denied access to mainstream venues. More than just a nightclub, the Sunset Lounge became a cultural beacon and gathering place for the local community, fostering a sense of pride and artistic expression. Now undergoing major renovations, the revitalized space will include a new 7,200 square-foot building featuring a full-service restaurant, bar, and rooftop.
The openings keep coming. Palm Tree Music Festival, the one-day fest previously held in The Hamptons, Saint-Tropez, Aspen, and Montecito, has announced an inaugural West Palm Beach date. On Valentine’s Day 2026, Calvin Harris, Kygo, and other artists will headline sets on the waterfront. The festival is being organized in partnership with Related Ross, and organizers recently purchased a stake in Mary Lou’s. Speaking of the hotspot, word has it that, following Mary Lou’s success in Palm Beach and in Montauk this summer, its founders are opening a piano bar in the new NORA district of West Palm Beach later this year. Stay tuned.
In 1969, despite community objections, Palm Beach hosted a pop festival at the International Roadway that included The Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane, among others. A burgeoning 20-year-old local photographer, Ken Davidoff, heard an ad for the concert on the radio, and convinced its promotor, David Rupp, to allow him to be the festival’s official photographer. “I didn’t know what I was jumping into, but I knew I wanted to be there,” says Davidoff. It was a family affair. Davidoff’s father had been the official private photographer for John F. Kennedy for decades. Following in his footsteps, Ken flew to the festival on a helicopter from The Colony Hotel, where all the bands were staying. Over the next three days, he and his father captured the event and its approximately 50,000 revelers in the driving rain and mud. Here, Davidoff shares their photographs and memories from the Palm Beach Pop Festival, dubbed “Woodstock South.”
“The smoke you see in the back is from campfires. Just as the festival began, a thunderstorm rolled in, and after torrential rain, a cold front settled over the area for days. It was freezing temperatures—to Floridians! By the third night, when the Rolling Stones went on at 4 a.m., only about 5,000 people were left. Most hadn’t been prepared to endure the cold that long.”
“That picture of Mick Jagger gets used a lot. What a face! Fans know this, but The Rolling Stones played very few festivals in their career, and this was on of the rare ones.”
“The magnificent Minnie Riperton. She was with the band Rotary Connection at the time, before her hit song “Lovin’ You” came out in 1974.”
“The one and only Janis Joplin. She had an unbelievable amount of stage fright and often used it as an excuse to justify her drinking. She was there with a bottle of Southern Comfort. Most of the bands stayed at the Colony Hotel during the festival, and I have it on good authority that on one of the nights, Janis Joplin was seen skinny-dipping in the hotel pool.”
This is an excerpt from PALMER Vol.9. To view the full portfolio and read the full story, click here to purchase the issue.