They say the heart of rock and roll is still beating. And from what you'll see at the Bandshell on Sept. 4, you'll believe it. That's when '80s icons Huey Lewis and the News take the stage bringing their own brand of rhythm and blues to Daytona Beach.
    
Born Hugh Anthony Cregg III, Huey Lewis has been in music for most of his life. In 1971, Lewis joined his first band, Clover, with future Doobie Brother John McFee that disbanded in 1978. Later that year, Lewis played harmonica on Thin Lizzy's 1978 album "Live and Dangerous."
     
Lewis claims he learned to play the harmonica while hitchhiking.
 
"Between high school and college, I took a year off and bummed around Europe," Lewis said in an interview with the Portland Tribune. "I hitchhiked throughout Europe and played the harmonica until my lips bled.
     
"I actually started playing harmonica somewhat prior to that. My mother rented a room to a guy named Billy Roberts, who wrote the song 'Hey Joe.' He gave me a bunch of harmonicas. My mom -- who was hanging out with the beat poets in San Francisco at the time -- had me listen to a Bob Dylan record and said, 'Do this.'"
     
1978 turned out to be a good year for the now 60-year-old crooner as he was discovered playing at a California bar with some friends. After playing a few shows, including opening for Van Morrison, the band officially changed its name to Huey Lewis and the News.
     


And while the group achieved some success with the 1982 album "Picture This" which featured hits like "Do You Believe In Love," it was 1983's "Sports" that really put the band on the map. Four singles from that record, "Heart and Soul," "I Want a New Drug," "The Heart of Rock & Roll" and "If This Is It," all reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the album has sold more than 10 million copies in the United States alone.
     
Throughout their impressive run, the group would go on to amass 19 top-10 singles across the charts including five number ones.
     
Lewis has undergone a personal renaissance as of late achieving success on stage and screen including a turn on Broadway as slick lawyer Billy Flynn in "Chicago" and more recently a co-starring role on TV Land's "Hot in Cleveland."
     
"It enlarges me," said Lewis on acting. "Since I don't have to have make my living at it, I find it wonderfully creative for short periods of time. If you get to work with good people and get a part with some real substance, it can be rewarding."
     
As for the rest of the News, the band recently confirmed their first new album, "Soulsville," in nine years. Recorded at the historic Ardent Studios in Memphis, the album is a tribute to rhythm and blues, featuring classic songs from the vault of Stax Records, including "Respect Yourself" and "Got To Get You Off My Mind."
   
The album is due out Nov. 2.