What's the 411? How about a blockbuster tour teaming two of music's biggest performers?
Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z will be taking their joint show on the road for a 25-date trek kicking off next month.
The coheadliners will launch their Heart of the City Tour Mar. 22 in Miami and hit major markets in North America. Among the initial stops announced Thursday: Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston, New Orleans, Houston, Las Vegas, Oakland and Los Angeles.
The "Share My World" chanteuse and the "Big Pimpin' " emcee first joined forces back in 1996, when she was featured on his hit "Can't Stop the Hustle" from the Reasonable Doubt album. Since then, both artists have scored massive success, selling a combined 70 million albums worldwide and winning six Grammys apiece.
Blige's latest disc is Growing Pains, which debuted last month atop the Billboard charts and has gone on to sell more than 1 million copies. She'll feature the new material, along with some old favorites, during her sets on the upcoming jaunt.
Jigga, on the other hand, will mix up his classics along with tracks off his most recent smashes, the 2006 comeback CD Kingdom Come and last year's American Gangster, his 10th studio effort to enter the charts at number one. The album, inspired by the Denzel Washington-Russell Crowe flick, has also earned Jay-Z five Grammy nods.
"The [songs] we're playing are the soundtracks to people's lives," Jay-Z said in a statement. "We've poured our hearts out many a night in the studio and look forward to going one step further onstage."
The rapper stepped down on Jan. 1 as president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings to focus on his Roc-A-Fella-related business ventures and a music career he never truly gave up despite proclaiming his "retirement" back in 2003.
The last time Jay-Z hit the arena circuit was in 2004. That tour, titled Jay-Z and Friends, completed the hip-hopster's ill-fated Best of Both Worlds tour with R. Kelly, which was scuttled after the two had a very public falling out.
Tickets for Blige and Jay-Z's Heart of the City tour go on sale Feb. 15.
Here's a partial itinerary with more dates to be announced in the coming days:
- Mar. 22: Miami, American Airlines Arena,
- Mar. 26: Baltimore, 1st Mariner Arena,
- Mar. 27: Uniondale, New York, Nassau Vetereans Memorial Coliseum
- Mar. 28: East Rutherford, New Jersey, Izod Center
- Mar. 30: Philadelphia, Wachovia Center
- Apr. 2: Toronto, Air Canada Centre
- Apr. 3: Boston, TD Banknorth Garden
- Apr. 5: Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro Coliseum
- Apr. 6: Washington, D.C., Verizon Center
- Apr. 16: Los Angeles, Hollywood Bowl