Forever (Kool & the Gang album)

Forever is the seventeenth studio album by the funk band Kool & the Gang, released in 1986. The album included two major hits on the US Hot 100 Chart: "Victory" (US #10, R&B #2) and "Stone Love" (US #10, R&B #4). Three additional singles charted, "Holiday" reached the top ten on the R&B Chart, "Special Way" reached #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart. and "Peacemaker" was released in international markets and charted at #20 in New Zealand.

Forever
Studio album by Kool & the Gang
Released	November 3, 1986
Recorded	October 1985-August 1986
Studio	Quiet Sound Studios The Hit Factory (New York, NY) Larrabee Sound Studios (North Hollywood, California) Record Plant (Los Angeles, California)
Genre	Adult contemporary, urban, dance-pop
Length	48:59
Label	Mercury
Producer	Kool and the Gang, Khalis Bayyan, I.B.M.C.
Kool & the Gang chronology
Emergency (1984) Forever (1986) Sweat (1989)
Singles from Forever
"Victory" Released: November 1986 "Stone Love" Released: February 1987 "Holiday" Released: May 1987 "Special Way" Released: 1987 "Peacemaker" Released: 1987

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Stereo Review	(favourable)

After this album, lead vocalist James "J.T." Taylor left the group to pursue a solo career. He returned in 1996 for the State of Affairs album.

Track listing

Side 1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Victory"	James "J.T." Taylor, Khalis Bayyan	4:37
2.	"I.B.M.C."	Taylor, Bayyan	4:14
3.	"Stone Love"	Charles Smith, Taylor, Kool & the Gang	4:37
4.	"Forever"	Dwania Kyles, Taylor, Bayyan	5:03

Side 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Holiday"	Curtis Williams, Taylor, Kool & the Gang	4:12
2.	"Peacemaker"	George Brown, Taylor, Kool & the Gang	4:35
3.	"Broadway"	Williams, Taylor, Kool & the Gang	3:40
4.	"Special Way"	Kyles, Brown, Taylor, Kendall Stubbs, Bayyan	5:26
5.	"God's Country"	Gary Curtis Culpepper, Taylor	5:04

Personnel

Kool & The Gang

• James "J.T." Taylor – all vocals (1, 3, 4, 7, 8), lead vocals (2, 5, 6, 9), percussion
• Khalis Bayyan – keyboards, saxophone
• Curtis "Fitz" Williams – keyboards
• Charles Smith – guitars
• Robert "Kool" Bell – bass
• George Brown – drums
• Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas – alto saxophone
• Clifford Adams – trombone
• Robert "Spike" Mickens – trumpet
• Michael Ray – trumpet

Additional musicians

• Randy Taylor-Weber – synthesizer programming, creative software programming
• Mark Attalla – instruments
• Kendal Stubbs – instruments, drum programming, backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
• Alex Williams – instruments
• Bert Clardy – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
• Jeff Clardy – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
• Lisa Foster – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
• Barbara Hernandez – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
• Starleana Young – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
• Kool & the Gang – backing vocals (6)

Production

• Gabe Vigorito – executive producer
• Kool & the Gang – producers
• Khalis Bayyan – producer, mixing
• I.B.M.C. Group (Khalis Bayyan, Peter Duarte, Meekaaeel Muhammad, Kendal Stubbs and Randy Taylor/Weber) – producers, recording
• Jay Biolic – recording
• Alex Williams – recording
• Craig Vogel – second engineer
• Peter Duarte – assistant engineer
• Roger Talkov – assistant engineer
• Kendal Stubbs – mixing
• Herb Powers, Jr. – mastering at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs (New York, NY)
• Bill Levy – art direction
• George Corsillo – design
• Gil Gilbert – cover photography
• Carl Davis for Lemans Designs – fashions
• Rosalyn Burns-Brock – make-up

Certifications

Certifications and sales for Forever

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)	Gold	50,000^
France (SNEP)	Gold	100,000*
United States (RIAA)	Gold	500,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.