Mary J. Blige & JAY-Z Announce Heart of the City Tour

Mary J. Blige & JAY-Z Announce Heart of the City Tour

70 MILLION ALBUMS, 12 GRAMMYS

2 SUPERSTARS, 1 STAGE

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- At long last, with over 70 million combined albums sold worldwide and 12 Grammy wins together, Mary J. Blige and JAY-Z announced today that they will embark on a historic 25-date North American co-headlining tour. The "Mary J. Blige & JAY-Z: Heart of the City" tour marks the first time in more than 15 years that an African American male/female bill of this stature have co-headlined a national concert tour.

(Photo:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080207/LATH042)
(Logo:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070220/LATU096LOGO)

The Live Nation and Haymon Events produced tour kicks off on March 22nd at Miami's American Airlines Arena and will hit major markets along the eastern seaboard as well as New Orleans, Houston, Las Vegas and Oakland. The "Mary J. Blige and JAY-Z: Heart of the City" tour will also make a special stop at L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl on April 16th. More dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets go on sale for the first shows beginning February 15th and are available through http://www.livenation.com/.

Citi cardmembers will also have access to purchase presale tickets through Citi's Private Pass(R) Program, available to all Citi cardmembers at http://www.privatepass.citi.com/ beginning Wednesday, February 13th at 10AM. Confirmed dates are listed below.

The "Mary J. Blige & JAY-Z: Heart of the City" tour is the pinnacle of Mary and Jay's long-time collaboration which began in 1996 with the classic "Can't Knock The Hustle." The multi-Grammy award winning powerhouses are two of the most successful artists of our time whose influence stretch far beyond any musical borders.

This will be JAY-Z's first arena tour since his successful JAY-Z and Friends Tour in 2004 and the first to feature material from his 2006 Kingdom Come album and 2007's critically acclaimed American Gangster album. A multiple Grammy, American Music Award and VMA award winner, JAY-Z has continued to set the bar for all artists and entrepreneurs. Co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, he currently is the president of Rocawear, part owner of the New Jersey Nets and co-owner of the successful 40/40 chain. Most recently, Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter held the title of President of Def Jam Records where he helped guide the careers of superstar artists and multiple Grammy nominees such as Rihanna, Ne-Yo, NAS, Kanye West and Young Jeezy.

Mary J. Blige is a truly iconic artist whose longevity in the music business is a rarity. Her 8th and current studio album, Growing Pains (released 12/18 on Matriarch/Geffen), reached platinum in three weeks and is grabbing the hearts of the critics and fans alike. People magazine says, "There are three things you can count on: death, taxes and good Mary J. Blige albums."

A six-time Grammy Award winner, Mary has won more than 25 awards in all, including NAACP Awards, American Music Awards, Billboard Awards, BET Awards, MTV's Video Music Awards, Soul Train Awards and more. Over the span of her 15-year career, Mary has blessed us with 8 platinum and multi-platinum studio albums (she released a live album in 1998 and a greatest hits album in 2005 both to critical acclaim and incredible sales) selling more than 40 million copies worldwide. With every album she has proven that hers is a voice of healing; a voice of reckoning.

MARY J. BLIGE & JAY-Z: HEART OF THE CITY TOUR

DATE CITY VENUE
March 22 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena
March 26 Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner Arena
March 27 Uniondale, NY Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
March 28 East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center
March 30 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
April 2 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
April 3 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
April 5 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
April 6 Washington, DC Verizon Center
April 16 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl

*** MORE CITIES/DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON

ABOUT LIVE NATION:

Live Nation is the future of the music business. With the most live concerts, music venues and festivals in the world and the most comprehensive concert search engine on the web, Live Nation is revolutionizing the music industry: onstage and online. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol "LYV." Additional information about the company can be found at http://www.livenation.com/ under the "About Us" section.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: JohnVlautin@LiveNation.com

Photo: NewsCom:

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080207/LATH042
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070220/LATU096LOGO
AP Archive:

http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN 5
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Live Nation

CONTACT: Tresa Sanders of Interscope Geffen A&M, +1-212-841-8272,
tresa.sanders@umusic.com, for Mary J. Blige; or Jana Fleishman of Island Def
Jam Music Group, +1-212-445-3298, jana.fleishman@umusic.com, for JAY-Z; or
John Vlautin of Live Nation, +1-310-867-7127, johnvlautin@livenation.com

Web site:

http://www.livenation.com/

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