Steve Miller Band

Friday morning update: A limited number of tickets for the Steve Miller Band's homecoming show tonight have just been released.

press release: The Steve Miller Band will perform Friday, October 20, in Shannon Hall at the Memorial Union in a benefit for a UW–Madison scholarship fund.

A limited number of tickets will go on sale online to the general public at 10 a.m. CT on October 4, 2017. Starting October 5, at 10 a.m. CT, tickets will also be available by phone and at the Memorial Union Box Office.

Steve Miller, a native of Milwaukee, attended UW–Madison and launched his musical career while an undergrad at the university. In the late 1960s, he joined the San Francisco music scene and then crafted his own brand of pop music. The Steve Miller Band’s hits include “Take the Money and Run,” “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Jet Airliner,” and “The Joker.” He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.  

“I really started writing at the end of my time in Madison,” Miller says. “I had listened to a lot of different writers. I was young. I was talented. I could play. I could write good music and had some fairly good ideas. But as time goes on, you learn a lot as you grow up. And now I’m getting ready to celebrate my 50th year of recording.”

The concert is underwritten by two generous university donors who sought to bring Miller back to campus. Proceeds from the ticket sales and additional donations will benefit the Chancellor’s Scholarship Program at UW–Madison. That program was established in 1984 to increase educational opportunities for academically talented undergraduates from underrepresented or disadvantaged populations.

“We are incredibly thankful to Phill Gross and Ted Kellner for making this special event happen and appreciative that Steve is excited to help us highlight and support the Chancellor’s Scholarship Program and UW-Madison overall,” said Mike Knetter, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association. “Steve is a musical legend and we are proud to call him a Badger.”

The concert is also part of a weekend celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the naming of the Wisconsin School of Business. In 2007, the Wisconsin School of Business received a naming gift that came with no name. Innovative in the world of philanthropy, it was the gift of not a single donor, but of a group of 13 like-minded UW alumni. They joined together to create the Wisconsin Naming Partnership with an investment of $85 million to preserve the school’s name for at least 20 years. Since the original gift, four others have joined the partnership, raising the total gift amount to $110 million.