For the first time since 2016 — a world before Beychella, Covid-19 and “Renaissance” — Beyoncé will headline a solo tour, the singer announced in a social media post on Wednesday.
Beginning on May 10 in Stockholm, and continuing in Europe through June before coming to North America, the Renaissance World Tour, in support of her seventh solo album, will run for at least 47 dates, largely in stadiums, according to dates posted to Beyoncé’s website. The tour includes two nights at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey (July 29-30) and two at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. (Sept. 2-3) amid stops in Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, Atlanta, Phoenix and Miami.
Beyoncé’s shows will be the singer’s first live events available to the public since the On the Run II tour with her husband, Jay-Z, in 2018, tied to the surprise release of a joint album, “Everything Is Love,” by the duo billed as the Carters. Beyoncé last toured alone behind her previous solo album, “Lemonade,” in 2016, the same year she headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
That show — which went on to be released as “Homecoming” (2019), a live album and concert film — was called “rich with history, potently political and visually grand” in a review by the New York Times critic Jon Caramanica. “By turns uproarious, rowdy, and lush. A gobsmacking marvel of choreography and musical direction.”
In the years since, Beyoncé has surfaced intermittently, including with songs like “Black Parade,” which won a Grammy Award for best R&B performance, and “Be Alive,” which appeared in the movie “King Richard” and was nominated for an Oscar. Last year, in a taped performance, Beyoncé performed the song at the 94th annual Academy Awards.
But the singer made a return to the pop mainstream in earnest with the July 2022 release of “Renaissance,” a dance-floor-oriented album that she said was inspired by the L.G.B.T.Q. community and has spawned hits like “Break My Soul” and “Cuff It.” At the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Beyoncé is nominated nine times, with a chance to become the most-awarded artist in history.
Upon its release, the singer called “Renaissance” part of a “three act project” that she recorded during the pandemic. “My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment,” she wrote of the album, which was billed as Act I. “A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom.”
Major music touring has largely recovered, especially at its highest levels, since the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the industry trade publication Pollstar, touring grossed a record-setting $6.28 billion last year, up more than 13 percent from 2019, due in part to pent-up fan demand, inflation and major acts like Bad Bunny, Elton John and Harry Styles.
In addition to Beyoncé’s shows, this year will see blockbuster tours from artists including Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Metallica, Morgan Wallen and Madonna.
Last month, Beyoncé proved more polarizing than usual when she headlined the grand opening of a luxury hotel in Dubai, performing for an invite-only collection of guests, including influencers and journalists.
While some fans decried the optics of taking a major payday in a place that criminalizes homosexuality — “Beyoncé’s Dubai performance isn’t just an affront to LGBTQ+ fans, but workers’ rights in the UAE,” The Guardian declared — others noted that the singer’s set list did not yet include songs from “Renaissance.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nytimes.com
