Anita Baker "Sweet Love"

Beyonce performed Anita Baker's ballad "Sweet Love" during a medley in a 2009 Vegas concert to promote her I Am...Sasha Fierce album.

Styx "Love at First Sight"

After a weekend bachelor party in Las Vegas, I noticed a familiar face on our flight home: former-Styx lead singer Dennis DeYoung. How do we say "hello" to a guy who clearly didn't want to talk with my hungover group of twenty-something bachelor party-goers? My friend Pat came up with an idea that we all felt was brilliant. It was 2005 and ringtones had just become a thing for cell phones, so Pat downloaded the song "Mr. Roboto" onto his phone and we kept playing the song/ringtone...much to DeYoung's dismay. Since this didn't elicit a response, we decided to communicate using Styx song titles. "Um, babe, could you show me the way to my seat? An aisle seat?!? That's like love at first sight..." Needless to say, DeYoung did not find any of this amusing and refused to acknowledge us.

Eric Carmen - "All By Myself"

Eric Carmen took the haunting tear-jerker "All By Myself" all the way to #6 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1976, but it was Celine Dion who buoyed the song to the #1 spot during the winter of 1997.  After the loss of her husband Rene Angelil in 2016, Celine returned to the stage in Las Vegas and performed "All By Myself".  There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Hoobastank - "The Reason"

At my best friend's bachelor party, five of us guys flew to Vegas and spent about 36 hours there.  Despite that short time, so many names, catchphrases, and stories from that trip are forever etched in the fabric that is our friendship.  For the sake of "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas", I will simply allude to the song "The Reason" as being synonymous with a stripper definitely not named Kim being offered all the soft serve ice cream she could ever want if she would just move to San Diego and murder someone's family.  I've already revealed more than I should...

Styx - "Show Me The Way"

Following a weekend bachelor party in Las Vegas, I stood alone at the gate waiting to board our Southwest flight back to Chicago/Midway.  Nearby, I noticed a man seated at the gate who resembled former Styx lead singer Dennis DeYoung.  From Dennis' many trips through radio stations I worked in the '90s, I recall that he always wore sunglasses whether he be inside or outside, night or day.  This particular man was wearing sunglasses and was also accompanied by a woman with strikingly-blonde hair who looked like Dennis' wife.  I also recognized her from the couple's many radio station tours.  I immediately phoned my friend who was eating dinner at the opposite end of the terminal.  "Pat, get over here," I told him, "Dennis DeYoung is on our plane!"  Within a few minutes Pat, Matt, and other members of our entourage were in tow.  This happened in 2005, so cell phone technology had not yet advanced...but it was advanced enough for Pat to quickly download the ringtone for "Mr. Roboto" to his phone.  Once in line and standing behind Dennis DeYoung, we all took turns calling Pat's cell while boarding the plane.  The man never once flinched...not even when we kept using Styx song titles in our conversations with one another.  Too Much Time On My Hands?  Perhaps.  But I know it was you, Dennis...