Mar. 20āMOHEGAN ā He's going home. He's done his time.
Indeed, 79-year-old singer Tony Orlando, who's presumably responsible for a half-century's worth of massive sales figures in the yellow-ribbon industry, performs his last-ever show Friday in Mohegan Sun Arena. The concert caps a 54-year career that includes 65 appearances before 100,000 fans at Mohegan Sun ā an attendance mark at the casino eclipsed only by Billy Joel.
Orlando's biggest hit, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree," recorded in 1973 with his then-group Dawn, has sold millions of copies and has come to symbolize the causes of American veterans as well as universal efforts for freedom and liberation. His other hits include "Knock Three Times," "Candida," "Don't Let Go" and "Sweets for My Sweet."
Orlando spoke about the music, his career and a familial relationship with Mohegan Sun and the Mohegan Tribe during a news conference Wednesday morning in the facility's Cabaret Theater.
"If you had a dream, you'd want it to end beautifully," Orlando said. "I never thought this day would come, but I was praying it would be this glorious. Because of (Mohegan Sun), my dream is ending beautifully."
He, of course, addressed his reason for retiring.
"I can still hit the ball, but I can't run the bases anymore," he laughed. "It's bittersweet, but it's time. Elton John has retired. Kenny Loggins. The Oak Ridge Boys ... But I've got plenty left to do. There will just be a different focus."
Orlando described writing a Broadway show, two screenplays and a novel as well as doing his ongoing "Saturday Nights With Tony Orlando" radio show streaming on WABC Music Radio. And he emphatically reiterated that he'll always devote time and energy to supporting U.S. military veterans.
The news conference started with a short video montage of different phases of Orlando's career ā which has included success as a writer, actor and producer ā and included clips and photos with such stars as Phyllis Diller, David Frost, Sammy Davis Jr., Freddie Prinze, Dick Clark, Jerry Lewis and Adam Sandler.
Thomas Cantone, Mohegan Sun's president of sports and entertainment, then introduced Orlando, referencing a long professional relationship between himself and the performer, one that spanned numerous venues across Las Vegas and Atlantic City and ultimately resulting in a close friendship and, subsequently, the long performance history at the Sun.
"This is sort of a sad occasion for me," Cantone said, "but it's also happy because Tony chose to end his career here. I think that's because we have a culture of family and fun."
Maynard Strickland, a Mohegan tribal elder and former tribal councilor, also spoke, describing how Orlando was a must-have booking priority when Mohegan Sun entertainment was still in planning stages.
"Tony doesn't just come here and perform," Strickland said. "When he's here, he visits with tribal elders and members, attends events, and treats the casino employees like family. He's on our Walk of Fame, and I'll always remember one of his first shows here. He said, 'Lock the doors, we're going late tonight!'"
After the news conference, Orlando fondly recalled that while he was in the area for a 2020 concert at the arena, he visited Cutler Arts and Humanities Middle School in Groton. There, he spoke to a music class and then, in the auditorium before the entire school, he sang with the Cutler choir and spoke about the importance of chasing dreams as opposed to just wishing something would happen.
"I was scared to death because they had no idea who I was. Maybe their parents or grandparents knew, but..." Orlando said.
It was pointed out to the singer that, by the end of the Cutler appearance and a rousing, auditorium-wide "Yellow Ribbon" singalong, students were lined up for photos and autographs like he was Dua Lipa or Harry Styles.
"I know!" Orlando laughed. "It was amazing."
Then he used "Yellow Ribbon" as an example of the transcendent power of music. In 1973, shortly after the song was released, he sang it at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas at an event to welcome home prisoners of war from Vietnam. "I've had yearly reunions with those (former POWs) for 50 straight years," Orlando said. "It's incredibly powerful."
"But move on with that song," he said. "After the Iranian hostage crisis, when those hostages came home ... the space shuttle had a yellow ribbon tied around it. The Astrodome had a yellow ribbon wrapped around it. Manhattan had a yellow ribbon around the entire island. One little song ... and it continued."
Orlando listed yellow ribbon associations with Desert Storm, the "Support Our Troops" bumper stickers, a 2008 trip to Iraq where he performed for the troops and "they marched into the venue wearing yellow ribbons. They were too young to remember the song, but they knew their mothers knew," Orlando said.
He also explained that, currently, in the Philippines, they use yellow to symbolize freedom; Hong Kong uses yellow ribbons to symbolize democracy; and prisoners in Singapore use "Yellow Ribbon" as their anthem for second chances.
"Fourteen countries use yellow ribbons," he said. "Fourteen countries! And, right now, as we're standing here, in Israel, yellow ribbons are on lampposts, cars, every lapel ... everyone hoping that the American and Israeli hostages come home."
Orlando paused and smiled, shaking his head.
"One song. It was written by Irwin Levine and Larry Brown," he said. "I was just the mailman delivering the letter. There have been a lot of great freedom songs, but I don't think there's ever been a song written like Irwin and Larry's that's covered that much of the world with that much feeling. That's the power of music, and I'm so lucky I got to be part of it."