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The Beatles album that was ranked the best of all time by Rolling Stone in 2003 will be performed at Seven Springs Mountain Resort by a diverse group of artists who all share a love for the band.

Todd Rundgren, Lou Gramm of Foreigner, Christopher Cross, Bo Bice and Denny Laine of The Moody Blues are coming together for the two-week cross-country "It Was 40 Years Ago Today" tour that features their own music and all of the songs from the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album.

The 10-show tour kicks off at the resort on Friday.

Co-producer and production and tour manager Ron Hausfeld says the show isn't about the bright-colored costumes the Beatles wore when they performed the songs. It's simply a tribute to the great music.

"The first half of the show is the artists' individual hits," Hausfeld says. "The second half is a tribute to the album. Basically, they'll play the whole record in its entirety."

Each of the performers' hits is diverse, spanning genres and generations.

Pennsylvania-born Todd Rundgren began playing guitar as a teenager in Philadelphia. He founded The Nazz, a '60s cult group, but left the band in 1969 to pursue a solo career. Rundgren's albums include "Runt," "Something/Anything" -- in which he played all the instruments, sang all vocal parts and acted as his own producer -- "Hermits of Mink Hollow" and "A Wizard, a True Star."

This isn't Rundgren's first Beatles performance.

"Todd Rundgren did a tour called A Walk Down Abbey Road with us, where he and the other acts performed a selection of Beatles spanning their catalogue," says tour creator and producer Toby Ludwig. "It was a big success, and he was more than happy to come back for this project. All the musicians here have a deep love for the Beatles' music, and it shows in their performances of the material."

"Powerhouse vocalist and songwriter" Lou Gramm also will perform. A member of the band Foreigner, Gramm has racked eight top 5 singles and five top five albums in the United States.

Christopher Cross has released eight albums that led to eight hit singles such as "Sailing" and "Ride Like the Wind," several world tours, five Grammys and an Oscar.

The wide-sweeping success of "American Idol" made Bo Bice, the runner-up from the 2004-2005 season of the show, a household name. "See The Light" is the musician's latest album. It includes the Southern-fried rock of "This Train," and "Whiskey, Women & Time" and emotional ballads such as "Only Words" and "I'm Gone."

Denny Laine joined Paul McCartney in starting the group Wings, which was responsible for Laine's greatest success, the song "Mull of Kintyre."

"All the artists definitely draw a different crowd base," Hausfeld says. "It's a very diverse project. But (the artists) have one thing in common. They all love the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's. So, it should be fun."

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