You may want to check your bank account balance and kick your penny-pinching into high gear, because the long-rumored Beyoncé and Jay-Z joint tour is o‘fficially happening.
The powerhouse couple announced Monday that their On the Run II tour will start June 6 in the United Kingdom and July 25 in North America. (A full list of North American stadium tour dates is below.) Pre-sale starts Wednesday, with tickets going on sale March 19.
Beyoncé dropped the news via a trailer on her website and some photos on Instagram:
The first On the Run tour, named after the Jay-Z song “Part II (On the Run)” featuring Beyoncé, took place in 2014 after they wrapped up solo tours. The duo has had a Bonnie-and-Clyde thing going for a while (that was even the name of their first single together), and they kept that on-the-lam vibe with the 2014 tour. At the time, the super-private couple also were plagued by rumors of impending divorce. (Remember the elevator incident?)
Well, On the Run II comes at a different point for the two. They have since aired a lot of their dirty laundry, had twins and released some of their most critically acclaimed and revealing work yet.
They are also still going with the bandits theme in 2018, along with some reconciliation for good measure. The trailer for On the Run II includes quick scenes of handcuffed hands, the pair driving in a convertible and speeding off on a motorcycle, along with the old reggae standard “I’m Still in Love with You Boy.”
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Beyoncé and Jay-Z each embarked on a solo tour in support of their recent albums. Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” and Jay-Z’s “4:44” earned them Grammy nominations for album of the year, but both lost. (“Lemonade” did win the Grammy for best urban contemporary album Grammy in 2017, and Adele basically said Beyoncé should have taken the top-album prize instead of her).
In 2016, we were sorting through the tea leaves to discern what Beyoncé was spilling about her husband’s possible infidelity on “Lemonade”; the album took us on her journey from rage to sorrow to redemption. A year later, Jay-Z basically fessed up to his erring ways on “4:44,” repeating the phrase “I apologize” seven times in the title track.
[ Review: Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ turns life’s lemons into furious pop ]
When they hit a rough patch in their marriage, they started working on a joint project, Jay-Z said in an interview with the New York Times Style Magazine: “We were using our art almost like a therapy session. And we started making music together.”
Beyoncé, who was further along with “Lemonade” than Jay-Z was with “4:44,” released her album first. “We still have a lot of that music,” Jay-Z told the Times. “And this is what it became. There was never a point where it was like, ‘I’m making this album.’ I was right there the entire time.”
Will some of that music make its way into the tour? We can only wait to see. The two collaborated on tracks in 2017, including “Family Feud” on “4:44” and on DJ Khaled’s “Shining.”
[ Breaking down Jay-Z’s ‘Family Feud,’ the star-studded music video featuring Beyoncé ]
While the cost of the North America tickets for On the Run II isn’t available yet, Ticketmaster UK announced that in the United Kingdom, they would range from 25 to 160 pounds, plus fees (so that’s $34 to $222). People are already freaking out over how to pay for the shows:
beyonce and jay z giving me reasons to file my taxes asap and get that RETURN#otrii
— alexa tietjen (@hernameislex) March 12, 2018
Food $200
Data $150
Rent $800 #OTRII Tickets $3,600
Utility $150
someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this. my family is dying— Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) March 12, 2018
Monday’s announcement comes a week after an event called “On the Run II” featuring the two popped up on Ticketmaster and Beyoncé’s Facebook page. The events were quickly deleted from the websites, but the Beyhive was already kicked up into a frenzy over the possible tour.
Last month, Ticketmaster UK also had posted some concert dates before promptly removing them.
And in January, Laura Stylez of Hot 97 said she had heard some talk of a joint tour. “I have my sources, okay. So, don’t ask me any questions,” she said on air. “And, again, it’s a rumor. I heard, that somebody told, that somebody told me, that somebody told me that the Carters — Jay-Z and Beyoncé — might, this is a might, be announcing a tour very soon.”
Rumors no more. Now it’s time to check the couch for tour pennies.
Full North American tour dates:
July 25: Cleveland
July 28: Washington
July 30: Philadelphia
Aug. 2: Rutherford, N.J.
Aug. 5: Boston
Aug. 8: Minneapolis
Aug. 10: Chicago
Aug. 13: Detroit
Aug. 18: Buffalo
Aug. 23: Nashville
Aug. 25: Atlanta
Aug. 29: Orlando
Aug. 31: Miami
Sept. 11: Arlington, Tex.
Sept. 13: New Orleans
Sept. 15: Houston
Sept. 19: Phoenix
Sept. 22: Los Angeles
Sept. 27: San Diego
Sept. 29: Santa Clara, Calif.
Oct. 2: Vancouver, B.C.
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