Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige’s “Heart of the City” tour has grossed more than $9.1 million, according to Live Nation. The tour, which began on March 22, has sold out seven of the first eight dates on its North American trek and is averaging more than 12,000 attendees per night.
If the “Heart of the City” dates continue to sell out across the country, the tour is expected to gross upwards of $33 million over the 28 performances currently scheduled across the U.S. and Canada.
Last Wednesday night, the pair grossed $1.5 million at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, nearly $1.7 million at Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center, and $1.8 million in ticket sales at East Rutherford’s Izod Center. In addition the “Heart of the City” stop in Baltimore’s 1st Mariner Arena was the second highest grossing concert of all time for the venue, topped only by the Rolling Stones.
According to Live Nation, the tour still has its strongest dates coming up, including three nights at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, one night at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl and a two night stand at Chicago’s United Center. The tour wraps up in Uncasville, Connecticut on May 8.
In other news, Jay-Z and Live Nation are on the verge of closing a major partnership that involves the rapper and entrepreneur’s future touring and recordings.
The roughly $150 million deal will include financing for his new entertainment venture, Roc Nation, as well as the rapper’s own recordings and tours for the next 10 years, the New York Times reported last week (April 2).
Jay-Z, who is expected to record his final album via Def Jam this year, could launch a new label in Roc Nation, as well as music publishing, talent consulting and management companies, the paper said.
Live Nation will reportedly contribute $5 million each year in overhead for five years and offer $25 million to finance Jay-Z’s external acquisitions and investments. Roc Nation will split profits with Live Nation, according to the paper.
Details are still being worked out, but the deal is expected to finalized shortly, sources confirm to Billboard.biz.
