[Update January 8, 2019: Chubby posted more good news today]
GM FB family. I hope and pray you are all well.... I send out prayers to you all everyday. Everyday is a new gift for me.... I am feeling stronger everyday and grateful for every minute! I love you all for the well wishes and loving prayers. One of the lessons that this has taught me is to not only take care of your physical and spiritual health...... LISTEN to your body and soul. If SOMETHING does not feel right.... don't ignore it.. Get right to your hospital/ health care doctor. This is NOT A DRESS REHEARSAL... we don't who's tomorrow it is.. so take care of yourself now.. Then you can live..... a day at a time and help others.. I love you all and will be back on stage soon!!!
[Update December 21 20, 2018: Great news today, as Chubby posted the following on Facebook.]
[Update January 8, 2019: Chubby posted more good news today]
GM FB family. I hope and pray you are all well.... I send out prayers to you all everyday. Everyday is a new gift for me.... I am feeling stronger everyday and grateful for every minute! I love you all for the well wishes and loving prayers. One of the lessons that this has taught me is to not only take care of your physical and spiritual health...... LISTEN to your body and soul. If SOMETHING does not feel right.... don't ignore it.. Get right to your hospital/ health care doctor. This is NOT A DRESS REHEARSAL... we don't who's tomorrow it is.. so take care of yourself now.. Then you can live..... a day at a time and help others.. I love you all and will be back on stage soon!!!
[Update December 21 20, 2018: Great news today, as Chubby posted the following on Facebook.]
GM FB family. It is now 6 weeks after surgery and I thank the Lord everyday for this miracle. Special thanks and love for the medical team and my surgical team at Charlton hospital in MA. I certainly have an attitude of gratitude. I cherish each day, and all of you. Blessings to you and yours. Have safe and wonderful holiday season. Love from Chubby.
(November 6, 2018) SoulTrackers will be praying this week as Antone “Chubby” Tavares, the lead singer of one of our all-time favorite family groups, Tavares, undergoes heart surgery, after suffering a heart attack.
The Tavares Facebook page posted the following note: Greetings Fans, Friends and Family. Wanted to pass along that our brother Chubby is undergoing surgery this week and is in great hands with fine medical attention. Your kind thoughts and prayers are very much appreciated.
Tavares will continue to tour and honor all dates in Chubby's absence. See you next on our UK tour with the Tops and Temptations. Peace from Tiny, Butch, Ralph and Chubby.
Fans may recall that brother Pooch Tavares suffered a stroke back in 2014 that led him to retire from active performing, but the remaining members of the group have continued on since then.
Tavares was the first act we ever profiled on SoulTracks, in large part because of my personal affection for the group. I've had the chance to speak with Chubby several times over the years, and he has always been both kind and humble about his accomplishments. And those accomplishments are many. The five brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts - Ralph, Tiny, Chubby, Butch and Pooch - arguably created the most consistently high quality soul music of the 70s and early 80s.
Originally called "Chubby and the Turnpikes," the Tavares brothers spent the late '60s and early '70s in their native New England covering tunes of R&B greats at various clubs, while trying to land a record deal. They finally scored a contract with Capitol Records' then-new black music division and released their first single, "Check It Out," in 1973. It soared to the top 10 on the R&B charts and became the group's first top 40 pop hit. What came after that was a string of hits that led Blues & Soul magazine to label Tavares “The Next Supergroup.”
“It Only Takes A Minute,” “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel,” “She’s Gone,” “Never Had A Love Like This Before” and many, many more memorable cuts established the Tavares Brothers as R&B music royalty, even allowing them to survive the mixed blessing of having their version of "More Than A Woman" as part of the Grammy Award winning soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, giving the group its greatest exposure ever but bringing with it a label that Tavares would spend years trying to shake - that of "Disco Group." But in the 1970s -- a decade that highlighted so many groups, from the last Detroit days of Motown to the arrival of hot sounds in Philadelphia and Los Angeles -- the Tavares brothers proved themselves to be incredibly versatile and talented, and time has been kind to their enviable legacy.
The group has toured regularly - in combinations of three to five members - since their active recording days ended in the mid-80s. And, in recent times, Chubby Tavares has also made a minor stir as a solo artist, with two albums over the past five years and a hit earlier in 2018 with his dance version of the classic “Smile.”
We’ll be praying for a full and speedy recovery for Chubby. Please leave your own notes below and we’ll pass on to him.
By Chris Rizik