Magic Johnson returns to the Forum -- as a music fan

Former Lakers star Magic Johnson will set foot in the Forum in Inglewood on Sunday for the first time since it reopened in January, this time as a fan on hand to catch Frankie Beverly and Maze’s performance, rather than as a member of the team he helped win five NBA championships in the 1980s during the “showtime” years.

“[L]ooking forward to seeing one of our all-time favorite bands, Maze feat. Frankie Beverly, Sunday,” Johnson tweeted on Wednesday, which drew a response from another veteran sports figure, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, who answered “I love Frankie Beverly and Maze!!!!!!”

Sunday’s show also features Patti LaBelle and Ruben Studdard, all of whom are scheduled to receive commendations from Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts at the show.

The Forum reopened in January following a major renovation by the Madison Square Garden Co., which put $100 million into buying and updating the arena that opened in 1967 and helped usher in the era of arena rock that flourished in the 1970s and ‘80s.

The Forum lost much of its luster after Staples Center opened in downtown Los Angeles in 1999 and lured away the Lakers, the L.A. Kings, the Clippers and most of the A-list concert touring attractions that once filled the Forum.

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