he is back! The star-studded Barnstable Brown Derby Eve Gala 2022 comes to life the night before the Kentucky Derby with a celebrity guest list packed full of megawatts of A-listers including movie icons, professional athletes, TV personalities, high-profile businessmen and entrepreneurs. The most eclectic mix of musicians on the planet.
“It’s fresh, it’s sexy, it’s everything I wish it was,” Patricia Barnstable Brown told The Courier Journal of the triumphant return to her glam party.
After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the big lady of the Kentucky Derby season proves she missed nothing. On Friday evening, Barnstable Brown will open the doors to its stately hillside mansion in Louisville and welcome pop icon Janet Jackson, movie star Orlando Bloom and country music royalty Jason Aldean and Darius Rucker. The Baltimore Ravens quarterback and former University of Louisville Cardinal Lamar Jackson will attend along with “This Is Us” star Justin Hartley and film actor Stephen Dorff.
We don’t mean to drop names, but we’re still in the beginning.
Listed among the “Top Ten Best Parties in the World” by Condé Nast, Barnstable Brown is known internationally as the “party venue” for Derby Eve. The party team, co-hosted by her son Christopher Barnstable Brown and twin sister Priscilla “Sip” Barnstable, announced the exciting celebrity lineup for the annual party taking place at Barnstable Brown’s private home in Louisville’s Highlands neighborhood.
“Can you believe all six members of the New Edition are coming to my house?” Barnstable Brown said. “We’re all sold out, there’s no room for one more party guest.”
Several hundred people lucky enough to get a ticket to the invite-only event will join the stars, Jackson, Bloom, Alden, Rocker, Hartley, Dorf, New Edition members Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Ronnie Defoe, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivens, and Ralph Tresvant.
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At about 8:30 p.m., a group of stretch limousines and glossy black SUVs will begin to pull out to the ornate iron gates at 1700 Spring Dr. Friends include country musicians Sam Hunt, Tanya Tucker, Travis Treat, Chase Rice, and Morgan Wallen.
Actor Blair Underwood will be back to party and race this weekend at the Kentucky Derby. So are singer Taylor Dane, Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora, Larry Birkhead, his daughter Daniellene Birkhead, and audience favorite Joey Fatone, who is trying not to miss the weekend at the Kentucky Derby in Louisville.
“The only time I missed a flight in 18 years, I swore it would never happen again,” said the former *NSYNC member. “I don’t let anything get in the way of getting to the Louisville Kentucky Derby.”
What partygoers and spectators sometimes forget is the focus of this lavish Kentucky Derby Eve spectacle – it’s a charitable event. As of 2019, the Barnstable Brown Gala has donated $16.7 million to fight diabetes at the Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center at the University of Kentucky. For party guests like Fatone, Derby Eve’s party and his charitable cause go hand in hand. In 2021, he was asked to appear on the Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and the money he raised was donated to the Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center.
“We love that our guests ask to come back year after year. Nobody wants to throw a party that people don’t want to go back to,” Barnstable Brown said. “The fact that (our party) is now in its 33rd year and that our guests won’t miss it is the highest recognition.”
While a few guests return, most of the celebrities on Barnstable-Brown’s 2022 list are new and may want to prepare for what comes after they step out of the limo.
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After the excitement erupts from the crowd, the celebrities move into a frequent tent where a throng of local, national and international media are waiting for cameras and questions. New guests like singer William Jordan Jr., television court judge Greg Mattis, actors Sophia Bernas, Scott Hayes, Duke Nicholson and Joseph David Jones should be prepared to answer questions about whether they’ve drank mint juleps before and pick them for the winner of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby .
Happy cries will erupt from the street crowd once again as more celebrities emerge from the media tent including ex-Michael Jackson guitarist Orianthi Panagaris, model Courtney Six, wife of Nikki Six of Motley Crue, Miss USA 2021 and former resident of Louisville IL Smith.
Every celebrity, whether in high-heeled shoes or sneakers, a business legend or a novice, walks the curved aisle, past the thousands of twinkling white lights hanging from trees as they make their way to Barnstable Brown’s front door.
It’s the same aisle that hundreds of celebrities and guests have walked since 1989. It turns out that Barnstable Brown’s first gig, 33 years ago, was unlike anything Louisville had seen before and has grown in popularity ever since.
Her first year guests included legendary actor Lloyd Bridges, “Dallas” Patrick Duffy, Olympic gold medalist Dick Van Patten, race car driver Danny Sullivan, “Designing Women” star Dixie Carter, her husband, actor Hal Holbrooke and more.
“We put this party on the map,” Barnstable Brown recalls fondly. “I wasn’t sure anyone would come that first year but they did and look what we’ve become. It just took off. For this year I’m so excited that we can have a party again. We’ve worked hard and I know Friday is going to be another night.” A memorable one my guests will never forget.”
You can reach Kirby Adams at [email protected] or Twitter @kirbylouisville.
2022 Barnstable-Brown Derby Eve Gala Celebrity Guest List
Janet Jackson – Grammy Award Winner and Pop Icon
Jason Aldean – Grammy-nominated country music artist
Orlando Bloom – film actor known for the films “Lord of the Rings” and “Pirates of the Caribean”
Justin Hartley – Actor best known for his song This Is Us on NBC
Darius Rucker – Grammy Award winning country music artist
New Edition – Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Ronnie Defoe, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivens, Ralph Tresvant
Lamar Jackson – Baltimore Ravens quarterback and former University of Louisville cardinal who won the Heisman Award in 2016.
Sam Hunt – country music artist known for “Leave the Night”
Stephen Dorff – Actor known for The Power of One and True Detective
Richie Sambora – guitarist, singer-songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Bon Jovi
Blair Underwood – Actor best known for “Deep Impact” and “LA Law”
Morgan Wallen – Country Music Award Winner
Tania Tucker – Grammy Award winning country music artist
Joey Fatone – Former Member *NSYNC
Travis Treat – country music artist
Taylor Dane – American singer-songwriter
Orianthi Panagaris – guitarist, known for playing Alice Cooper, Michael Jackson
Courtney Six – model, married to Nikki Six of Motley Crue
Sofia Bernas – Actress who is best known as “Jane the Virgin” is married to Justin Hartley
Chase Rice – country music singer, songwriter and reality TV personality
Elle Smith – Miss USA 2021
Judge Greg Mattis – Daytime Emmy Award-winning television courtroom judge
Larry Birkhead – Photographer
Daniellene Birkhead – Daughter of Anna Nicole Smith and Larry Birkhead
Scott Hays – Actor and film director best known for the songs “Child of God” and “Jurassic World Dominion”
Joseph David Jones – actor best known for his roles in TV dramas “Nashville” and “Arrow”.
Duke Nicholson – actor best known for “USA” and grandson of Jack Nicholson
William F. Jordan Jr. is an R&B singer, born in Kentucky