Amboy Dukes Reunite in Detroit: Ted Nugent Leads a Historic Moment at the 2009 Detroit Music Awards
The 2009 Detroit Music Awards, presented by the Motor City Music Foundation, proved to be far more than a routine industry gathering. Held amid a strong turnout of music professionals, local celebrities, and longtime Detroit aficionados, the 18th annual ceremony became a powerful celebration of the city’s musical legacy, culminating in a moment few expected to witness live: the long-overdue reunion of The Amboy Dukes.
The evening itself was rich with tributes and historical weight. Alongside awards spanning ten musical categories, the program featured a Motown 50th Anniversary Revue, a moving tribute to Ron Asheton performed by Powertrane with Scott Morgan, Hiawatha Bailey, Chris “Box” Taylor, and Al King, as well as a special acknowledgment of Lyman Woodard and the Woodard Organization, whose influence on Detroit soul and funk stretched across decades.
Yet it was the return of The Amboy Dukes, orchestrated by the band’s most famous alumnus Ted Nugent, that stood as the undeniable highlight of the night. Once a defining force in Detroit’s late-1960s psychedelic rock explosion, the Amboy Dukes reunited onstage to perform “Baby Please Don’t Go”, reconnecting a vital thread in the city’s rock lineage.
Nugent, now a veteran presence, showed little erosion in his signature style. While age may have softened his image, his guitar work remained sharp, aggressive, and unmistakably his own. The performance served as a reminder that Nugent’s reputation as a fiery lead guitarist was forged long before his solo fame, in the raw, experimental environment of Detroit’s underground rock scene.
The reunited lineup reflected a carefully assembled effort to remain as faithful as possible to the original band. The performance featured Ted Nugent on lead guitar, Andy Solomon on Hammond B-3, Rick Lober on keyboards, Steve Farmer on rhythm guitar, Jim Butler on drums, John Drake on vocals, and Bill White on bass. While original drummer Dave Palmer has not played in years, and bassist Greg Arama tragically died in a motorcycle accident in 1979, the presence of Bill White, who played on the band’s debut album and authored much of the bass work on Journey, helped anchor the reunion in authenticity. White’s departure in the late 1960s, due to being drafted and sent to Vietnam, had originally opened the door for Arama, underscoring just how fragmented the band’s history had been.
Adding further weight to the moment, legendary Detroit drummer Johnny “Bee” Badanjek, best known for his work with Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and The Rockets, joined the group on drums for the third song, reinforcing the deep interconnectedness of Detroit’s rock community.
More than a nostalgic gesture, the Amboy Dukes’ appearance at the 2009 Detroit Music Awards functioned as a reclaiming of history. It honored a band whose influence often sits in the shadow of later success stories, and it reaffirmed Detroit’s role as a crucible for fearless, guitar-driven rock. For those in attendance, it was not just a reunion, but a rare and meaningful restoration of a missing chapter in the city’s musical story.