50 years after first show at University of Delaware, George Thorogood returns

Fifty years after George Thorogood and the Destroyers played their first concert together in a dormitory lounge on the University of Delaware's campus, they will return to campus this week and make history at the same time, Delaware Online/The News Journal has learned.

The Brandywine Hundred native will become the first entertainer honored with UD's Medal of Distinction, which will be awarded to him by UD President Dennis Assanis on Friday in Newark, one day before the "Bad to the Bone" singer's sold-out concert at the Freeman Arts Pavilion near Selbyville.

"I thank the University of Delaware for the Medal of Distinction. I’m not sure how distinctive I am, but I accept it in the spirit it is given and am certainly flattered to receive the honor," Thorogood told Delaware Online/The News Journal ahead of Wednesday's announcement of the honor.

Assanis added, “Our community is thrilled that the University of Delaware is where [Thorogood] and his band played their very first concert together. The university has always had a deep commitment to the arts and to our community, so it is very fitting that we helped to honor one of Delaware’s most influential artists for his successful career that was launched right here on our campus."

Thorogood returns to campus Friday afternoon

The Medal of Distinction is UD’s highest non-academic honor, awarded by the university's Board of Trustees. It is conferred to those "who have made significant cultural, humanitarian, scientific or intellectual contributions to society or in their profession."

Thorogood will be the 133rd person to receive the honor since the designation was created in 1979, joining everyone from UD graduates President Joe Biden and former Major League Baseball pitcher and manager Dallas Green to numerous faculty, donors and more.

The ceremony will be held Friday at 3 p.m. at The Green Mansion bar at Hyatt Place (94 E. Main St.) with UD Trustee William Lafferty joining Assanis to confer the medal, open to media only.

Representatives from the Delaware General Assembly and the city of Newark also will attend, presenting tributes to Thorogood recognizing his contributions to music and culture.

Following the medal service, the ceremony will move outside to Main Street for an unveiling of a plaque by city officials at the alley next to the former Stone Balloon Tavern and Concert Hall (115 E. Main St.), where Thorogood and his band played. It will be open to the public.

"Some people get avenues named after them, streets named after them or airports named after them. I’ve got them all beat. I will now have an alley named after me!" Thorogood joked to Delaware Online/The News Journal.

Remembering the first show: Lane Hall in 1973

Before Thorogood and his band sold millions of records and toured the world with their beer-soaked brand of barroom blues, they performed together for the very first time on a small bandstand at Lane Hall next to the Perkins Student Center a half-century ago.

In a promotional video series celebrating the band's five decades, Thorogood and original Destroyer drummer Jeff Simon reminisced about their dorm debut, which paid them $150.

"At that time we weren't really a band; we just jammed a couple of times," said Thorogood, the 74-year-old Brandywine High School alumnus who already had been performing as an acoustic solo act at the time of the UD show.

Simon had a friend who lived at the dorm who had told him about Lane Hall's band nights, offering him the next slot, which was an upcoming Saturday night. When Simon told Thorogood he had booked them a gig, Thorogood told Simon he didn't even own an electric guitar.

Recalled a laughing Simon: "I said, 'You better get one.'"

The band rehearsed once before the show and Simon admitted, "I was scared to death." At first, the crowd was watching with arms folded, giving the band no reaction, Simon said.

"We were like, 'Uh-oh. What's going on here?'" Simon said. "But then it was like somebody flipped a switch and everybody just got out and started dancing."

As Thorogood remembers it, "We kicked butt all over the place. And the next day we talked and said, 'I think we can make a go of this.'"

50th anniversary tour

Thorogood and his band, anchored by original members Simon and Bill Blough (bass), are in the midst of their 50th anniversary tour, postponed last year due to an undisclosed "very serious medical condition" for Thorogood. It required emergency surgery from which he has since recovered.

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Not only is the tour bringing the rockers and their hits ( "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," "Who Do You Love?," "I Drink Alone") to the Selbyville area this weekend, but they recently opened for John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival fame in Camden, New Jersey, earlier this month.

The tour continues through the end of the summer with shows in the United States and Canada, wrapping up Sept. 4 in Indio, California, two hours from Thorogood's home in Los Angeles.

Who else has received a University of Delaware Medal of Distinction?

1970s

• Cairns, Theodore Le Sueur, research chemist, 1979

• Parks, Charles, sculptor, 1979

1980s

• Woodhouse, John C., retired researcher, 1980

• Munroe, John A., professor emeritus, 1980

• Leach, John Gilbert, civic leader, 1981

• Shirley, John W., provost emeritus, 1982

• Gore, Genevieve W., corporate executive, 1983

• Gore, Wilbert L., corporate executive, 1983

• Fulmer, Clarence A., educator, 1983

• McDade, Joseph E., research icrobiologist, 1984

• Alexander, Edward P., historian, 1984

• McPherson, Mary Patterson, educator, 1984

• Gordy, J. Franklin, educator and poultry specialist, 1984

• De Armond, Anna Janney, educator, 1985

• Duffy, William M., former Delaware Supreme Court justice, 1986

• van den Berg, Lodewijk, astronaut, 1986

• Amos, William H., educator, 1986

• Lank, Herbert H., business executive, 1986

• Buxbaum, Edwin C., educator, 1987

• Davis, Hilda A., educator, 1987

• Weslager, Clinton Alfred, educator, 1988

• Rosenberry, Edward G., professor emeritus, 1988

• Somers, G. Fred, professor emeritus, 1988

• Arsht, Roxana Cannon, judge, 1989

• Collins, Morton, corporate executive, 1989

• Kiddoo, Richard C., corporate executive, 1989

• Van Ravenswaay, Charles, retired executive, 1989

• Catts, Ann B., physician, 1989

1990s

• Kearns, James F., corporate executive, 1990

• Sinness, Lester Snowdon, retired executive, 1990

• Gunzenhauser, Stephen Charles, conductor, 1990

• McKusick, Blaine Chase, corporate executive, 1992

• Green, George Dallas, professional baseball player and executive, 1992

• Tyler, Chaplin, retired corporate executive, 1993

• Emmert, Richard Eugene, retired corporate executive, 1993

• King, J. Robert, professor emeritus, 1994

• Quill, Leonard W., business executive, 1995

• Watson, Bernard C., educator, 1995

• Turner, Andrew J., Jr., former police officer, human relations specialist, 1995

• Carpenter, Mary Kaye, philanthropist, 1996

• Kakavas, James C., professor, 1996

• Soles, Ada Leigh, educator and politician, 1996

• Fairman, Endsley P., business executive, 1996

• Adams, Thurman, farmer and politician, 1996

• Stiles, Alvin B., chemical engineer, 1996

• Allen, William B., architectural historian, 1996

• Jastak-Burgess, Sarah, philanthropist, 1997

• Esterly, Katherine, pediatrician, 1997

• Puglisi, Donald, educator, 1997

• Sloan, Helen Farr, benefactor, 1997

• Boer, Karl W., professor, 1998

• Joanedis, Charles S., businessman, 1998

• Thoms, Lloyd L., benefactor, 1998

• Bunnell, Claude A., businessman, 1998

• Carter, Mae Riedy, advocate for women, 1998

• Hoffecker, Carol E., professor, 1998

• Chaiken, Yetta, benefactor, 1999

• Reynolds, Nancy Bradford du Pont, sculptor, 1999

• Wick, Ann Dugdale, volunteer, 1999

• Bolling, Robert H. Jr., businessman, 1999

2000s

• Garrett, M. Jane Nuckols, editor and clergywoman, 2000

• Gouldner, Helen, educator, 2000

• Battaglia, Victor, attorney, 2000

• Stone, Chuck, journalist and educator, 2000

• Eliason, Helen B., garden enthusiast, 2001

• Craven, Sidney, community activist, 2001

• Crossan, Donald F., former dean, College of Agriculture, 2001

• Flickinger, Catherine B., former educator and trustee emerita, 2001

• Perkins, Margaret, former first lady of UD, 2001

• Mayer, Vincent, UD football great, 2001

• Friess, Foster and Lynette, philanthropists, 2001

• Munson, Burnaby, educator, 2002

• Wisner, Elbert C., businessman and UD alumnus, 2002

• Szupper, Michael, UD Catholic chaplain, 2003

• Friend, William L., UD graduate and engineer, 2004

• Fine, Paul and Gloria, philanthropists, 2005

• Paradee, Eleanor C., philanthropist, 2005

• Carpenter, R.R.M. III, UD trustee/philanthropist, 2005

• Smith, Charles M., M.D., MPH medical professional, 2006

• Carter, William A., educator, 2007

• Edelsohn, Lanny and Michelle (Micki), philanthropists, 2007

• Harra, Robert V.A. & Linda Brinton, philanthropists, 2007

• Soles, James R., UD alumni distinguished professor, retired, 2007

• Putterman, Lawrence, executive director of Guttman Foundation, 2007

• Hollowell, David E., UD executive vice president and university treasurer, retired, 2007

• Lasher, Hiram Scientist, educator, philanthropist, 2008

• Rich, Dan Former, UD provost, 2009

• Johnson, Edgar, UD director of athletics, retired, 2009

2010s

• Hayward, Pierre DuPont, UD VP and university secretary, retired, 2012

• Hackerman, Willard F., philanthropist, 2013

• Fischer, Robert A. Jr., UD trustee emeritus, 2014

• Brynteson, Susan, UD May Morris librarian emerita, retired, 2016

• Hirsh, Louis L., UD director of admission, retired, 2017

• Hayes, Evelyn, UD Trustees Distinguished Professor Emerita, 2017

• Martin, Cynthia Primo, diversity activist, 2017

• Martin, Joshua W., former judge and attorney, 2017

• McBride, David, Delaware state senator, 2017

• Townsend, Sherman L., UD trustee/philanthropist, 2018

• Lyons Sr., Davis F., UD trustee/businessman, 2018

• Willis, Mary Jane, UD trustee/philanthropist, 2019

• Willis, William H., Jr., businessman/Philanthropist, 2019

2020s

• Coker, Beatrice “Bebe”, activist and community leader, 2021

• Whitney, Ken and Elizabeth, UD trustee/philanthropist, 2021

• Gelb, Jack, UD faculty, retired, 2021

• Burmeister, John, UD faculty, retired, 2021

• Dowling, Tim, UD director of student health, 2021

• Loessner, Arno “Skip”, UD faculty, retired, 2021

• Ogunnaike, Babatunde, UD faculty, 2021

• Buccini, Bernadette and Robert, 2022

• Burton, I.G., UD trustee, 2022

• Giannone, Brother Ronald, community leader, 2022

• Hayward, Tina, alumna/philanthropist, 2022

• Morgan, Robin, UD faculty/provost, retired, 2022

• Riordan, Charles, UD faculty/VP, retired, 2022

• Cook, Pamela, UD faculty, 2022

• Biden, Joseph R., alumnus/president of the United States of America, 2022

• Horn, Charles, businessman/philanthropist, 2022

• Matt, Kathy, UD faculty/dean, retired, 2022

• Brennan, John, UD staff, 2022

• Avery, Raye Jones, community leader, 2023

• Lasner, Mark Samuels, philanthropist/historian, 2023

• Pelesko, John, UD dean, 2023

• Aristigueta, Maria, UD dean, 2023

• Weber, Bruce, UD dean, 2023

• Plastino, David, philanthropist, 2023

• Lopez, Lolita, community leader, 2023

• Fox, Nicola "Nicky", NASA science chief, 2024

• Fauci, Anthony, physician/scientist, 2024

• Stevens, Scott, UD ELI director, 2024

• Thompson, Levi, UD dean, 2024

• Keeler, Calvin, UD dean, 2024

• Kiick, Kristi, UD faculty, 2024

• Sarver, Heidi, UD Faculty, 2024

• Carper, Thomas, U.S. senator, 2023

• Thorogood, George, entertainer, 2024

Have a story idea? Contact Ryan Cormier of Delaware Online/The News Journal at [email protected] or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier) and X (@ryancormier).

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: George Thorogood coming to Newark to accept UD's Medal of Distinction