Orleans is an American pop rock band formed in 1972 in Woodstock, New York by John Hall, Larry Hoppen and Wells Kelly.

Hall and his wife, Johanna, gained some notability when their song "Half Moon" appeared on Janis Joplin's posthumous album Pearl.

Larry Hoppen grew up in Bay Shore on Long Island and relocated to Ithaca, New York to attend college there in the late 1960s.

After a swing through Europe playing guitar behind Karen Dalton on a Santana tour, Hall decided to start his own band in Woodstock, New York.

After months of playing the Café Expresso with different rhythm sections, Hall called his old friend Wells Kelly in Ithaca in December 1971 and asked him to join his group.

The group initially included Hall on guitar, Roy Markowitz on drums, Bill Gelber on bass and Kelly on electric piano.

Hall, who had once jammed with him before, encouraged Kelly to call Larry Hoppen, who accepted the invitation to join the new group, christened "Orleans" by Wells in late January 1972.

Orleans found its core audience touring the clubs and college circuit of the Northeastern United States, crossing paths with other up-and-comers such as Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits and Hall & Oates.

Atypical of the high-energy, earthy, R&B and Rock n' Roll mix of styles they had been previously identified with, "Dance With Me" cast the band in a more "soft-rock" light and landed them a tour with Melissa Manchester.

While recording their next album, Waking and Dreaming, in early 1976, the group was joined by second drummer Jerry Marotta, freeing Wells Kelly to sing more and play keyboards.

Around then, however, internal stresses and disagreements over material and musical direction prompted guitarist and songwriter Hall to announce his intention to leave the band in search of a solo career, which he did in June 1977 after touring commitments were satisfied.

After several months of mulling things over and working with other musicians (Lance and Larry joined Marotta in the backing band for Garland Jeffreys while Kelly worked with the Beach Boys), the Hoppen brothers and Kelly decided to continue the band in late 1977, bringing in new members Robert Martin (vocals, keyboards, sax, horns) and Connecticut musician Bob Leinbach (vocals, keyboards, trombone), who had played with Larry Hoppen and the Kellys in Boffalongo during the Ithaca years and had completed a stint with the group the Fabulous Rhinestones.

The live lineup still featured Robert (R.A.) Martin and the band completed a tour of amusement parks that summer, only to learn that their accountant had misappropriated funds, leaving them in debt.

At the same time, Larry and Lance formed a side group, Mood Ring, with Bob Leinbach, Nicholas Parker, singer/songwriter Robbie Dupree (of "Steal Away" fame) and various other Woodstockers who drifted in and out to play for fun, mostly at parties and clubs.

After a couple of years touring the Northeast club circuit, during a two-week stint in Bermuda in September 1984, Larry lost his voice just one day into the gig due to a combination of air-conditioning and high humidity.

John Hall and Bob Leinbach joined Larry in Ithaca, New York, to play at a memorial for Wells (Lance was unable to make the wake due to another commitment).

In 1985, through the Halls' connections in Nashville, the reunited lineup of John Hall, Larry Hoppen, Lance Hoppen and Bob Leinbach cut the album Grown Up Children (June 1986), with guest appearances from heavyweights like Chet Atkins, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and Bela Fleck, under the direction of Nashville producer/MCA label chief Tony Brown.

[7] During their Nashville period, the band added bassist Glen Worf and drummer Paul Cook (who was eventually replaced by Tommy Wells) for concert dates, as Lance switched to acoustic guitar.

By late 1987, John and Larry began to realize that, while Nashville was a great place for them as songwriters, it was not so accommodating to Orleans' career as a band.

While most of the venues were small listening clubs, the real highlight of 1995 was being the opening act on the Can't Stop Rockin tour with Fleetwood Mac, REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar.

The single "I Am on Your Side" even began to make its way up the charts, but the label proved inexperienced and it folded shortly afterward, killing the song's chances for more radio play.

In the summer of 2001, nearly four years after their last gig, Orleans (John Hall, Larry, Lance, Peter O'Brien and Bob Leinbach) reunited on Labor Day weekend to play the Opus 40 Amphitheatre in Saugerties.

After that the band's lineup was Larry, Lance and Lane Hoppen, Charlie Morgan and the returning Dennis "Fly" Amero (who replaced John Hall as he began his campaign for Congress in 2006) on guitar.

[9] In 2007, Orleans released a live DVD/CD, We're Still Havin' Fun, recorded in August 2006 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which included both John Hall and "Fly" Amero, as well as the three Hoppen Brothers and drummer Charlie Morgan.

In 2010, they had repeat performances in both Washington, DC (in support of DCCC), and in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (fundraising for the Nana Baby Home, the orphanage there).

Orleans carried on to November 11, 2012, with a lineup consisting of John Hall, Dennis "Fly" Amero, Charlie Morgan, and Lance and Lane Hoppen,[9] ending the year with a memorial show at Mercy Lounge in Nashville, joined by many artist supporters including Jimi Jamison, John Ford Coley, Henry Paul, Jonell Mosser, Kathie Baillie & Michael Bonagura, Pete Huttlinger and Bill Lloyd.

In the summer of 2013, supported by new manager Len Fico, the band appeared as part of the "Sail Rock Tour", not only playing a set of their own hits, but providing back up for headliner Christopher Cross and contemporaries Firefall, Gary Wright, John Ford Coley, Robbie Dupree, Player, and Al Stewart.

The Last Band Standing DVD was released in 2013 as well as the double-disc compilation CD, No More Than You Can Handle: A 40 Year Musical Journey, featuring several previously unreleased recordings Among them is the title cut, which was the last in which Larry participated as co-writer, singer and player.

In 2020, the band released an in isolation video performance of "No More Than You Can Handle"[14] in memory of Larry Hoppen and as an aid for those who are struggling with the challenges of everyday life during the Covid-19 Pandemic & quarantine.

During the summer of 2021, Orleans resumed in person appearances and in August of that year, vocalist/guitarist Tom Lane came to fill in for an ill "Fly" Amero, then ended up taking his place permanently.