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Mary J. Blige tour admat image courtesy of Live Nation & Richman Communications
Mary J. Blige tour admat image courtesy of Live Nation & Richman Communications

'The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul,' Mary J. Blige unveils 2025 'The For My Fans Tour' dates, stop at KeyBank Center

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Mon, Sep 30th 2024 11:15 am

Featuring special guests NE-YO and Mario

Live Nation Press Release and Photo

Grammy and Emmy award-winning and Oscar-nominated, “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul,” Mary J. Blige, announced her 2025 “The For My Fans Tour” with special guests NE-YO and Mario. The show comes on the heels of her new album, “Gratitude,” set for release Nov. 15. The tour and album are a celebration of the love and gratitude that Mary has toward her life, family, friends, and her beloved fans.

Produced by Live Nation, the 27-city tour includes a stop at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Saturday, March 22, 2025.

“I am so excited to kick off this tour. I have amazing fans and am so grateful for all of the love and support they have given me throughout the years,” Mary J. Blige said. “This tour is for them, and I cannot wait to be able to travel to all these cities and see everyone. I am in such a place of immense gratitude and peace at this moment, so also having the chance to release my new album, ‘Gratitude,’ on Nov. 15, ahead of this tour, is really special to me.”

Blige will release “Gratitude” through her own Beautiful Life Productions and in partnership with 300 Entertainment. In August, she dropped the first single off the album, “Breathing” featuring Fabolous.

Ahead of both the album release and tour, Blige will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of the Class of 2024 on Oct. 19 in Cleveland.

The tour will also offer a variety of different VIP packages and experiences for fans to take their concert experience to the next level. Packages vary but include premium tickets including reserved booths and tables, access to the VIP Lounge, exclusive VIP merch item, limited-edition VIP poster and more. For more information, visit vipnation.com!

Tickets will be available starting with artist presale beginning Tuesday, Oct. 1. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on-sale beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at LiveNation.com.

Citi is the official card of “The For My Fans Tour” presale. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details, visit www.citientertainment.com

More about Mary J. Blige

Iconic Grammy and Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated artist, actress, producer and entrepreneur Mary J. Blige is a figure of inspiration, transformation and empowerment. With a track record of eight multi-Platinum albums, nine Grammy Awards (37 nominations), an Emmy award, two Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and a SAG nomination, Blige has cemented herself as a global superstar.

Influenced at an early age by the music of Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Gladys Knight, Blige brought her own gritty, urban-rooted style – fusing hip-hop, soul, and honest, frank lyrics – to the forefront on her 1992 debut album, “What’s the 411?” Blige continued to redefine R&B and began forging a unique niche for herself on her second album, 1994’s “My Life.”

Each subsequent album she released reads like a chapter from an autobiography leading to February 2022, when Blige released “Good Morning Gorgeous,” which earned her six 2023 Grammy nominations including Album and Record of the Year. The album release led into a historic performance at the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar. Her performance earned her a 2022 Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).

On the acting side, Blige starred as Florence Jackson in the 2017 Netflix breakout film “Mudbound,” to which she received critical acclaim including two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song. She became the first person ever to be nominated in an acting and song category for the same film. Among many other credits, Blige appears in Starz’s “Power Book II: Ghost.” The fourth and final season is airing on Starz and continues to break records for the network.

On the producing side, Blige launched her production company, Blue Butterfly, and signed a first-look TV deal with Lionsgate. Blige also signed a first-look, nonscripted deal and a second-look scripted deal with BET. In 2021, Blige worked with Oscar-winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth and Amazon on her documentary, “Mary J. Blige's My Life,” celebrating the 25th anniversary of her famed album “My Life,” of which she was the focus and EP. Following her 2023 Lifetime films “Real Love” and “Strength of a Woman,” Blige has signed on to executive produce multiple new projects for Lifetime, beginning with “Family Affair” (working title) coming in 2025.

More about NE-YO

NE-YO is a three-time Grammy Award-winning R&B hitmaker, iconic songwriter, actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist whose illustrious catalog has generated a combined total of 23 billion streams worldwide.

His debut single, 2005’s “So Sick,” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified quadruple-Platinum. Since then, the Motown Records/Compound Entertainment recording artist has racked up a collection of global hits, including “Sexy Love,” “Closer,” “Because of You,” “Miss Independent” and “Push Back” [feat. Bebe Rexha and Stefflon Don].”

Additionally, NE-YO has proven to be as powerful with his pen as he is in the recording studio and on stage, penning bangers like Rihanna’s “Unfaithful,” “Russian Roulette” and “Take a Bow,” along with Beyoncé’s 2006 breakup anthem “Irreplaceable,” and songs for such artists as Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Celine Dion and Mario, among others.

The multihyphenate has also leveraged his platform as a musician to pivot into acting. His film and television credits include NBC’s “World of Dance,” Netflix’s “Dance Monsters,” “Empire,” “Stomp the Yard,” “Save the Last Dance,” “Battle: Los Angeles,” “George Lucas' Red Tails,” “The Wiz Live!”, “Starz’ Step Up: High Water,” “Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding” and “The Sound of Christmas.” He starred in the latest season of 50 Cent’s acclaimed drama series “BMF” on Starz.

More about Mario

Mario is a Grammy-nominated, Platinum-selling R&B singer, songwriter and hitmaker hailing from Baltimore. A dominant 2000s run, which began after the church-bred singer was signed by Clive Davis to J Records during his teenage years, included Top 5 hit “Just A Friend,” and “Let Me Love You,” the generation-defining serenade that spent nine weeks at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning the singer widespread acclaim. Mario’s subsequent album, “Turning Point,” generated a Best Contemporary R&B Album Grammy nomination as well as two Billboard Awards, and is part of a robust catalog that includes four debuts inside the Top 5 of Billboard R&B/hip-hop albums chart, beginning with his Gold-certified debut, “Mario.”

Mario’s hit-making prowess and status as a superior vocal performer led to a spot on Billboard’s “Artist of the Decade” list. His expanded entertainment profile includes an independent label, New Citizen, launched in 2016, and a slew of marquee acting appearances, including major roles in blockbuster films and shows “Step Up,” “Freedom Writers” and “Empire.” Mario will make his film production debut this holiday season, when his New Citizen-produced Christmas film, “Style Me For Christmas,” airs on BET.

This December, Mario releases his sixth studio album as part of his new deal with Epic Records, marking his first solo LP since 2018. “Glad You Came,” is executive-produced largely by James Fauntleroy, who worked for over a year on the project in-studio with Mario.

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