Grammy-winner CeeLo Green rides the love train to the Cox Capitol Theatre

Grammy Award-winning artist CeeLo Green will pay homage to the Southern music legends that inspired him with a tour stop in Macon.

Green will perform Thursday night at Cox Capitol Theatre.

"CeeLo and his team picked very specific venues and cities for the tour," Danielle Sudderth, marketing director for the Cox, said in an email. "Macon has a lot of Southern music history and is close to CeeLo's hometown of Atlanta."

The show is part of "The Love Train Tour," which includes 11 stops in historic Southern cities. Green kicked off the tour March 1 in Washington, D.C., and told The Washington Post it was a chance to retrace his roots and go back to where he started.

"I thought this was a timely and perfect opportunity to gear up and do something impromptu and spontaneous," he told the Post. "It really was simple the way it was put together. I just said, 'I want to go home.' "

Green has said the tour is meant to pay homage to the music legends that inspired him like Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, Ike and Tina Turner and B.B. King.

"I look forward to hitting the road to celebrate great music of the South and reconnecting with all my loyal fans," Green said in a news release. "This tour will be different from anything I've ever done before because of my choice of intimate venues and the variety of music I will perform from my new and classic hits to covers of some of my favorite songs."

Green told the Post this tour was about reconnecting with people.

"I haven't been on stages like this in forever," he said. "I've been all over the world, and outer space included, so it's all about making it around full circle, coming back home to where you started. For the people who love you the most. I'm definitely not going to disappoint, you know what I mean?"

Green is probably best known for his 2006 work with Gnarls Barkley on the hit "Crazy," and his 2010 single re-titled "Forget You" for its radio release. He also spent four seasons on NBC's "The Voice" as a celebrity judge.

His latest album, "Heart Blanche," was released in November and includes the singles "Sign of the Times," "Music to My Soul" and "Robin Williams," which plays tribute to the late actor.

Green has won Grammys for "Crazy," "Forget You" and "Fool for You." He and his music also have won recognition from the Soul Train Music awards, NAACP Image Awards and Billboard Music Awards.

Opening for Green will be Escort, a New York band described as a blend of funk and disco.

"I'm actually really excited for them to play in Macon. ... I really want to encourage people to come out to the show early to catch them," Sudderth wrote. "We don't get disco-revival music very much in Macon. It's going to be a fun dance party all night."

CeeLo Green

When: 8 p.m. March 10

Where: Cox Capitol Theatre, 382 Second St.

Cost: $32 in advance; $35 day of the show

Information: www.CoxCapitolTheatre.com; 478-257-6391

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 8:19 PM with the headline "Grammy-winner CeeLo Green rides the love train to the Cox Capitol Theatre ."