Chubby Checker to kick off 2026-27 Hoover Library Theatre season

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People/Places

Chubby Checker has been doing “The Twist” for 67 years, but he’s never done it in Hoover, Alabama.

That’s about to change. Checker, an icon in the music industry who was just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November, is bringing his dancing and singing act to Hoover on Sept. 20 to kick off the Hoover Library Theatre’s 2026-27 season. He’ll be performing two shows at 3 p.m and 7 p.m.

“He’s just really an amazing artist. I’m so glad we’re able to bring him to Hoover,” said Matina Johnson, fine arts manager for the Hoover Public Library. “It’s maybe a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a lot of people. … He’s quite an icon. We’re really glad to open up with him.”

The Library Theatre’s 2026-27 season, just recently announced, features five other Grammy Award winners, including country songwriters Marcus Hummon and Tommy Sims, The Swingles vocal ensemble, the jazzy Count Basie Orchestra and bluegrass singer and banjo player Alison Brown.

Other acts in the new season include Dove Award winner Cindy Morgan, pianist Jon McLaughlin, The High Kings Irish folk group, an unscripted musical comedy awards show called The Phony Awards by the Broadway’s Next Hit Musical group, and the Twitty and Lynn show, a country tribute show featuring Tre Twitty and Tayla Lynn, the grandchildren of Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn.

Full-season tickets go on sale for past season ticket holders on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 10 a.m. at thelibrarytheatre.com. New full-season subscribers can start buying tickets Thursday, Aug. 13, and tickets for individual shows go on sale Friday, Aug. 14. Tickets are $40 per show.

Here’s more about each act and when they are scheduled to perform:

CHUBBY CHECKER

Sept. 20, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Checker has sold more than 250 million records and has been wowing audiences since the 1950s. He scored his first hit, “The Class,” in 1959, and “The Twist” was the No. 1 single for the decade of the 1960s and for 59 years was the only non-holiday song to hit No. 1 in the charts in non-consecutive years (1960 and 1962).

Checker added feature films to his portfolio with the release of movies such as “Teenage Millionaire,” “Don’t Knock the Twist” and “Twist Around the Clock” in the early 1960s.

He continued releasing multiple dance records and won a Grammy for best rock and roll recording with “Let’s Twist Again” in 1962.

He remains the only artist to have had five albums in the top 12 albums at the same time (in 1962).

Checker has reappeared multiple times in the top music charts throughout the decades, including with songs such as “Yo Twist” in 1988 and “The Limbo Rock Remix” and “The Original Master of the Dance Hall Beat” in 2004. In 2007, he scored Billboard’s No. 1 dance track with “Knock Down the Walls.”

Checker has continued touring and still spends an average of 300 days per year on the road, according to information provided by the Hoover Library Theatre.

THE HEART BEHIND THE MUSIC (MARCUS HUMMON, CINDY MORGAN AND TOMMY SIMS)

Oct. 4, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. 

This songwriters’ showcase features Grammy Award winners Marcus Hummon and Tommy Sims and Grammy-nominated and Dove Award winner Cindy Morgan.

Hummon, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2019, has received seven Broadcast Music Inc. awards for songs such as Rascal Flatts’ “Bless the Broken Road,” The Dixie Chicks’ “Cowboy Take Me Away,” Sara Evans’ “Born to Fly,” Tim McGraw’s “One of These Days” and Wynonna Judd’s “Only Love.”

Sims, an eight-time Grammy Award winner and 2023 Songwriter Hall of Fame inductee, has more than 170 gold and platinum records and produced hit singles such as “Change the World” for Eric Clapton and “Streets of Philadelphia” for Bruce Springsteen.

Morgan has been nominated for two Grammy awards and won 14 Dove Awards. She has written 21 No. 1 singles for artists that include Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Rascal Flatts, Point of Grace and Ricky Skaggs. She won the Dove Award for Songwriter of the Year in 2008 and received the 2024 Hollywood Independent Music Award for her single “Jubilee.”

Morgan and Sims have performed together before and have a great synergy on stage, Johnson said. Having these three artists together will be a unique experience, she said. “This is something to see.”

JON MCLAUGHLIN

Nov. 19-20, 7 p.m.

McLaughlin, a contemporary pop pianist who currently is co-headlining the Sympohonies Across America tour with Ben Rector, released his debut album, “Indiana,” in 2007 on the Island Def Jam record label.

Since performing at the Academy Awards in 2008, he has released eight albums, including his latest, “Scenarios,” in 2025.

McLaughlin has performed shows with Billy Joel, Kelly Clarkson and Adele and collaborated with longtime friend Sara Bareilles and co-written with Demi Lovato.

He has provided music for TV shows such as “Scrubs,” “Ghost Whisperer” and “A Little Thing Called Life,” as well as had songs in movies such as “Bridge to Terabithia,” “Georgia Rule” and “Enchanted.”

THE SWINGLES

Dec. 6, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

This British-based a cappella group was first created in 1962 by founder Ward Swingle and has evolved over the years with a rotating group of seven to eight singers that collectively have won five Grammy awards.

The Swingles tackle jazz, folk, pop and classical music with a combination of close-microphone amplification, wide ranges and vocal dexterity. The ensemble layers vocals using live-looping to create a mesmeric signature sound.

The group has released more than 50 albums and appeared on film and TV soundtracks for shows that include “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Sex and the City,” “Wedding Crashers” and “Glee.” The Swingles’ latest album, “Theatreland,” was released in 2024.

At the Hoover Library Theatre, the group is scheduled to perform a Christmas repertoire of traditional a capella holiday favorites and jazz-inspired originals.

COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA

Jan. 10, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

The County Basie Orchestra, founded by the late pianist and bandleader William James “Count” Basie, has won 20 Grammy awards and left quite a mark in the swing, blues and jazz world, from the silver screen to Carnegie Hall.

The orchestra received a 2018 Grammy nomination for “All About That Basie,” which featured special guest Stevie Wonder, a 2022 Grammy nomination for “Live at Birdland,” a 2024 Grammy win for best large jazz ensemble for “Basie Swings the Blues!” and a 2026 Grammy nomination for best large jazz ensemble for “Basie Rocks!”

“They’re very current and relevant,” Johnson said. “They’re hot, hot, hot right now.”

Carmen Bradford has been added as a guest vocalist for the Hoover Library Theatre show.

ALISON BROWN QUINTET

Feb. 24-25, 7 p.m.

Grammy Award-winning banjo player Alison Brown blends bluegrass with jazz. She toured as a banjoist for Alison Krauss and Union Station before forming her own group, The Alison Brown Quartet, in 1993. A Harvard graduate and co-founder of Compass Records, she has recorded 12 solo albums and been featured on “CBS News Sunday Morning” and National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered" and in the pages of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

Her latest collaborative album with fellow Grammy Award winner Steve Martin, “Safe, Sensible and Sane,” debuted in October 2025 at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Album chart.

“We’re so excited about her,” Johnson said. “Our patrons tend to love this type of music. Bluegrass has always sold incredibly well here. She is incredible — so prolific. Grammy winner, just an ingenious artist and songwriter.”

Brown’s performance will be part of the 2027 Southern Voices Festival.

THE HIGH KINGS

March 21, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

A leading folk group from Ireland, The High Kings are global ambassadors of Irish heritage and storytelling, earning them chart-topping success and widespread acclaim. With their signature blend of classic tradition and modern edge, the band plays 13 instruments between them in a

showcase of Irish culture, energy and musicality.

A record-breaking 2024 included a sold-out world tour, a feature on Hulu’s critically acclaimed series “Only Murders in the Building” and more than 5 million weekly streams. Then the band was included on the soundtrack of the movie “Sinners” and had two songs — “The Rocky Road to Dublin” and “Go Lassie Go” — featured prominently in the film’s score. Their live appearances have spanned the United States, with performances on “Good Morning America” and “The Today Show,” and the band is selling out venues across the globe.

Their performance at the Hoover Library Theatre is timed to be near St. Patrick’s Day.

BROADWAY’S NEXT: THE PHONY AWARDS

April 15-16, 7 p.m.

This unscripted musical comedy awards show is a combination of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and The Tony Awards.

The Broadway’s Next Hit Musical group asks audience members to write down made-up hit song titles as they enter the show, and cast members then improvise songs and present them as “nominated songs” for the coveted Phony Award.

The cast creates spontaneous scenes and songs, filled with catchy melodies, clever lyrics and creative choreography. The audience then votes for their favorite song and watches as the cast turns the song into a full-blown improvised musical comedy, complete with memorable characters, witty dialogue and plot twists.

“By the end of it, all these songs have to make sense with the storyline,” Johnson said. “It’s a great, great time. Usually the audience is rolling hysterically laughing the whole time. … It’s a lot of fun.”

TWITTY & LYNN

May 6-7, 7 p.m.

This show brings together Tre Twitty and Tayla Lynn, the grandchildren of country stars Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, to take the audience back in time to the hits of yesterday.

Songs such as “Hello, Darlin’,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” come to life again as the offspring of legends keep their legacy alive.

Tayla Lynn first had the idea for the show when she saw Tre Conway perform his grandfather’s songs during a concert at her grandmother’s Tennessee ranch. After a few test shows, they launched on a tour in Canada in 2018 and have been performing together since.

Twitty & Lynn caught the attention of Nashville, and in 2022, the duo made their debut on the world-famous Grand Ole Opry stage on the same circle of wood where Conway and Loretta once stood.

Once tickets go on sale, they can be purchased at thelibrarytheatre.com or by calling The Library Theatre box office at 205-444-7888 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday or visiting the box office at 200 Municipal Drive. Some shows typically sell out quickly.