AJ Croce pays homage to his father, Drexel Hill folk singer Jim Croce, in “Croce Plays Croce” at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Oct 22, writes Stephi Wild for broadwayworld.com.

Jim Croce had a professional recording and touring career cut short after he died in a plane crash.

Yet he’s considered one of the greatest songwriters and artists ever.

AJ Croce, who went partially blind after physical abuse from his mother’s ex-boyfriend,  is a virtuoso piano player.

He has a 25-year touring and recording career, charting 18 Top 20 singles and 10 albums on radio.

AJ Croce maintains a love of music,  including blues, soul, pop, jazz and rock n’ roll.  That love of music comes from his father and his mother, Ingrid, who was a singer/songwriter herself. 

AJ lost his father when he was 2. He avoided his father’s music so he could find his own musical identity.

Several years back he rediscovered his father’s music.  He started performing a Croce plays Croce mix of his father’s songs and his own.

AJ  loves seeing “the joy it brings audiences,” and the flexibility the mix offers to change up each concert.

Read more at broadwayworld.com about Croce plays Croce.

A.J. Croce performs Jim Croce’s, “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.”