As Tony Ocean belted out the final notes of “My Way” to a roar of applause on May 29 at the Des Plaines Theatre, he surveyed his band onstage and his wife and family in the audience and, amid a shower of roses, wiped a tear from his eye. And why not? Ocean had just finished his 8,000th performance.

There has been plenty of glitz along the way: a run in Las Vegas, a performance in Aruba, and the wildly popular “Rat Pack Is Back” shows at Jilly’s and other clubs. But all that fun and glamour has been built on a foundation of hard work: endless rehearsals, countless sound checks, driving home at 2 a.m. in subzero temperatures. But Ocean wouldn’t have it any other way.