Forever (Kool & the Gang album)

Forever is the seventeenth studio album by the funk band Kool & the Gang, released in 1986. The album included two major hits on the US Hot 100 Chart: "Victory" (US #10, R&B #2) and "Stone Love" (US #10, R&B #4). Three additional singles charted, "Holiday" reached the top ten on the R&B Chart, "Special Way" reached #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart. and "Peacemaker" was released in international markets and charted at #20 in New Zealand.

After this album, lead vocalist James "J.T." Taylor left the group to pursue a solo career. He returned in 1996 for the State of Affairs album.

Personnel
Kool & The Gang
 * James "J.T." Taylor – all vocals (1, 3, 4, 7, 8), lead vocals (2, 5, 6, 9), percussion
 * Khalis Bayyan – keyboards, saxophone
 * Curtis "Fitz" Williams – keyboards
 * Charles Smith – guitars
 * Robert "Kool" Bell – bass
 * George Brown – drums
 * Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas – alto saxophone
 * Clifford Adams – trombone
 * Robert "Spike" Mickens – trumpet
 * Michael Ray – trumpet

Additional musicians
 * Randy Taylor-Weber – synthesizer programming, creative software programming
 * Mark Attalla – instruments
 * Kendal Stubbs – instruments, drum programming, backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
 * Alex Williams – instruments
 * Bert Clardy – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
 * Jeff Clardy – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
 * Lisa Foster – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
 * Barbara Hernandez – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
 * Starleana Young – backing vocals (2, 5, 6, 9)
 * Kool & the Gang – backing vocals (6)

Production

 * Gabe Vigorito – executive producer
 * Kool & the Gang – producers
 * Khalis Bayyan – producer, mixing
 * I.B.M.C. Group (Khalis Bayyan, Peter Duarte, Meekaaeel Muhammad, Kendal Stubbs and Randy Taylor/Weber) – producers, recording
 * Jay Biolic – recording
 * Alex Williams – recording
 * Craig Vogel – second engineer
 * Peter Duarte – assistant engineer
 * Roger Talkov – assistant engineer
 * Kendal Stubbs – mixing
 * Herb Powers, Jr. – mastering at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs (New York, NY)
 * Bill Levy – art direction
 * George Corsillo – design
 * Gil Gilbert – cover photography
 * Carl Davis for Lemans Designs – fashions
 * Rosalyn Burns-Brock – make-up