Ohio Players singer doesn’t miss Ohio hometown

HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — The lead singer and guitarist with the 1970s funk band the Ohio Players is not nostalgic for his Ohio hometown.

Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner says he’s been back to Hamilton only once since he ran away at the age of 14. He says he has bad memories of growing up poor in the city 18 miles north of Cincinnati, though he says it’s where he first learned about music, on the streets and from musicians in a bar he would sneak into.

Bonner sang lead for the Ohio Players during a period of big hits including “Skin Tight,” “Love Rollercoaster” and “Fire.”

An incarnation of the band, called Sugarfoot’s Ohio Players, is performing with other acts on a tour dubbed the Soul Food Festival. It comes to Cincinnati on Aug. 29