Aretha Franklin’s Apollo shows are major events. The Apollo marquee reads, “She’s Home.”
Stars of the Philadelphia International record label including the Delfonics, the O’Jay’s, the Stylistics, the Spinners, the Three Degrees and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes are presented.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear at a 1971 benefit concert for Attica.
B.B. King plays an early morning blues concert for Harlem schoolchildren.
By the mid 1970s, the Apollo is presenting only 22 weeks of shows per year as recordings eclipse live performances as an important source of income for artists.
Bobby Schiffman reluctantly closes the Apollo in January 1976.
The Theater briefly reopens in 1978 under new management with shows by Ralph McDonald, War, the T-Connection and Sister Sledge, James Brown, Bob Marley and Parliament Funkadelic.