What started as a high school talent show act over four decades ago has earned a national spotlight.
The Funkateer Dancers, an iconic dance crew based in Inkster, are set to appear on the 20th season of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” The episode featuring the group airs on Tuesday, June 17, at 8 p.m. ET.
Formed in 1980, the group is known for its old-school funk moves and deep hometown roots. Members include Ed Miller, Mike Kelly, Jeff Healey and Tony Warren. Two of the original members, Tony Lacey and DeA’mon Ellerson, have died — Lacey in 2024 and Ellerson in 2022.
The Funkateer Dancers, also known as the Funkateers, first got together with one goal in mind: to win their high school talent show. But their momentum didn’t stop there. In the years that followed, they became regulars on “The Scene,” a beloved Detroit TV dance show that aired weeknights from the 1970s through the late 1980s.
Though the group stepped back from the spotlight for more than 30 years, the bond between the members remained strong, members Miller and Kelly told the Free Press. Then, in 2019, they made their official return.
“When we got back together, it was just like riding a bike,” Miller said. “It didn’t take no more than about five or 10 minutes for us to do what we do.”
That chemistry helped bring them all the way to the “America’s Got Talent” stage.
“Being able to do it at the age that we are, and we can still do it at a high level — it’s wonderful,” Miller added.
On social media, the Funkateer Dancers said they hope their journey inspires others — especially the next generation of dancers.
“The joy of dance and Funkateering has to be shared with the world. The youth has to see that age is nothing but a number when you have a dream,” the group wrote. “From the young Black boys dancing on high school stages to the uncs in their 60s taking on America’s biggest stage — we cannot express truly how grateful we are for this experience.
“We can’t WAIT for the world to see the dance that changed our lives, and we hope that our passion shines brightly!”
As for what’s next?
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“The goal is to, of course, win ‘America’s Got Talent,’ and go wherever that takes us from there — whatever it may be,” Kelly said. “We told ourselves that we got three to five more years left in us to go ahead and do this thing for real, wherever it’s going to take us.”
Tune in Tuesday, June 17, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC to watch the Funkateer Dancers take the stage, and find out how far their groove takes them. For more on the show, visit nbc.com/agt.
Nour Rahal is a trending and breaking news reporter. Email her: nrahal@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @nrahal1.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Inkster’s Funkateer Dancers take old-school funk to ‘America’s Got Talent’
Reporting by Nour Rahal, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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