At a Moment of Global Division, The Platters® Release "The Prayer" as the Opening Chapter of With Love, The Platters

BOSTON, May 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Platters® will release "The Prayer" on May 29, 2026, as the opening track of With Love, The Platters, their first major LP in decades and a musical love letter to the world. "The Prayer" will be available on Spotify and all major digital platforms.

The recording comes from the official Platters® organization, carried forward by Herb Reed Enterprises, LLC, under Frederick J. Balboni, Jr., Herb Reed's longtime manager and handpicked successor. Reed founded and named The Platters® in 1953, and the group has remained a living vocal ensemble, with Reed as the defining constant, even as membership has changed since the beginning.

That history matters. Herb Reed, Tony Williams, David Lynch, Zola Taylor, and Paul Robi are remembered as the classic chart-era lineup that brought The Platters® onto the national charts in 1955 with "Only You (And You Alone)." But The Platters® were never frozen in a single lineup. Reed remained the founder, naming member, and guardian of the name, sound, and goodwill he fought to protect, entrusting them to Herb Reed Enterprises.

Made famous by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, "The Prayer" becomes, in The Platters' hands, the first breath of a journey rooted in harmony, faith, hope, dignity, and unity.

With Love, The Platters will be released in chapters: "The Prayer" on May 29; "Can't Help Falling in Love" on July 10; "Your Song" on August 21; "All of Me" on October 2; and the LP/vinyl release in November 2026. The album draws on songs associated with Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Queen with Freddie Mercury, John Legend, Elton John, The Bee Gees, and Bryan Adams, reimagined through The Platters' signature harmonies. This approach is true to The Platters' history: the group often transformed existing songs and standards into defining Platters recordings, including "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."

"The Prayer is not nostalgia," said Balboni. "It is a living expression of hope and unity, carried by one of America's enduring vocal harmony groups. With Love, The Platters carries forward Herb Reed's promise."

Today, The Platters® are Lance Bernard Bryant, Omar Ross, Jovian K. Ford, and Brittany Michelle Wallace, continuing the lineage that Reed founded, named, protected, and entrusted to the future.

As Juneteenth approaches, "The Prayer" embodies perseverance, grace, and the power of music to unite people.

SOURCE Herb Reed Enterprises LLC