Renowned balladeer John Legend is set to bring his acclaimed debut album back to the stage with the Get Lifted 20th Anniversary World Tour, announced today.

The arena tour will visit over 40 cities across the UK, Europe, and North America, with select dates produced by Live Nation.

Kicking off 27 May at OVO Hydro in Glasgow, the 46-year-old will make stops at The O2 in London, Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, Accor Arena in Paris, Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and Barclays Center in New York. Additional dates will be announced soon.

Released in 2004, Get Lifted garnered eight nominations and won three Grammy Awards at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for breakout hit Ordinary People, Best R&B Album for Get Lifted, and Best New Artist.

To mark the 20th anniversary, Get Lifted has been re-release as digital deluxe and deluxe 3LP vinyl editions feature special guests including Tems, Killer Mike & Lil Wayne, Simi and Black Thought.

Get Lifted 20th Anniversary World Tour will see Legend perform the award-winning album in its entirety, in addition to other career-spanning hits from his 20-year music career.

Get Lifted 20th Anniversary World Tour Dates:
05/27/25 @ OVO Hydro in Glasgow, UK^
05/29/25 @ Co-op Live in Manchester, UK
05/30/25 @ Utilita Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, UK^
06/01/25 @ The O2 in London, UK^
06/02/25 @ Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, NL^
06/05/25 @ Accor Arena in Paris, FR
06/07/25 @ Olympiahalle in Munich, DE
06/12/25 @ Heartland Festival in Kværndrup, DK
06/14/25 @ Vaulen Open Air Festival in Stavanger, NO
08/23/25 @ Ravinia in Highland Park, IL
08/24/25 @ Ravinia in Highland Park, IL
09/02/25 @ Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA
09/03/25 @ Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA
09/28/25 @ Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA
10/18/25 @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Dallas, TX^
10/19/25 @ Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land in Houston, TX^
10/21/25 @ Zoo Amphitheatre in Oklahoma City, OK
10/23/25 @ Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, LA
10/24/25 @ Synovus Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park in Atlanta, GA^
10/26/25 @ Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, FL^
10/28/25 @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre in St. Augustine, FL^
10/29/25 @ Live Oak Bank Pavilion in Wilmington, NC^
10/30/25 @ Red Hat Amphitheatre in Raleigh, NC^
11/04/25 @ Barclays Center in New York, NY^
11/05/25 @ The Met in Philadelphia, PA^
11/07/25 @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston, MA^
11/08/25 @ Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT
11/10/25 @ Schottenstein Center in Columbus, OH^
11/11/25 @ Fox Theatre in Detroit, MI^
11/13/25 @ Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, ON
11/14/25 @ Place Bell in Montreal, QC
11/16/25 @ Fishers Event Center in Indianapolis, IN^
11/17/25 @ The Factory in St. Louis, MO
11/19/25 @ Paramount Theatre in Denver, CO^
11/20/25 @ Maverik Center in Salt Lake City, UT^
11/22/25 @ Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, CA
11/23/25 @ The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park in San Diego, CA^
12/03/25 @ Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC^
12/05/25 @ WAMU Theater in Seattle, WA^
12/07/25 @ Theater of the Clouds in Portland, OR^
12/09/25 @ Paramount Theatre in Oakland, CA^

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American balladeer John Legend will headline this year’s Move Afrika, the multi-country tour bidding to change the face of live entertainment in Africa.

Created by international advocacy organisation Global Citizen, the pan-African touring circuit debuted in 2023 in Rwanda with a headline performance by Kendrick Lamar at the sold-out BK Arena in Kigali. The Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper’s creative imprint pgLang will serve as curator of Move Afrika up to 2028.

Each year, more countries will be added to the tour schedule, with Nigeria being the new addition for 2025.

Legend will kick off this year’s tour on 21 February at the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, before moving to The Palms in Lagos, Nigeria, on 25 February.

“I’m honoured and excited to perform in Kigali and Lagos as part of the Move Afrika tour – an initiative that not only brings unforgettable shows, but also creates entrepreneurship and job opportunities, empowering young people to engage with Africa’s growing music and creative industries,” says Legend. “Africa has always been a global cultural powerhouse, and it’s an honour to be part of the future of live music on the continent.”

The 2025 edition will spotlight a citizen-led advocacy campaign championing sustainable development and economic growth, with a focus on strengthening health systems across the continent.

“Investing in [Africa’s] future with lasting infrastructure will mean the continent no longer needs to be excluded from the international touring circuit”

A limited number of tickets for Move Afrika: Kigali and Move Afrika: Lagos are available for purchase. Additional details about how to earn free tickets by taking action with Global Citizen will be announced.

“We’re thrilled to have John Legend, our longtime Global Citizen Ambassador and friend, headline Move Afrika, as we expand the tour from Rwanda to Nigeria,” says Global Citizen co-founder and CEO Hugh Evans. “As Move Afrika grows year over year, our goal is to equip and inspire Africa’s dynamic, young population to participate in the live music and creative industries, while investing in its future with lasting infrastructure that will mean the continent no longer needs to be excluded from the international touring circuit.”

Move Afrika’s 2025 instalment was initially due to include Ghana, but organisers said “the timeline needed to make an Accra show possible was not achievable for this next edition”.

“We remain committed to Ghana and its people and look forward to bringing Move Afrika to Ghana as soon as possible,” they added.

Move Afrika is Global Citizen’s latest effort to address the world’s inequities by creating job and entrepreneurship opportunities through live events. Its previous events in Africa include: Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100, which brought Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Ed Sheeran, Usher, Eddie Vedder and Chris Martin to Johannesburg, South Africa in 2018 and Global Citizen Festival: Accra in 2022, which featured performances from Usher, SZA, Stormzy, Gyakie, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, TEMS and Uncle Waffles.

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The future of Swiss festival the Baloise Session is looking bright, as insurance group Basler Versicherungen extends its current presenting contract for another five years.

The deal means the event, which takes place each autumn at Basel’s club-like Event Halle, is secured for the years up to and including 2025.

The sold-out 2018 edition of Baloise Session saw performances from George Ezra, Buddy Guy, Lauryn Hill and John Legend.

“The Baloise Session is unique and brings fresh delights year after year,” says Basler Versicherungen chief executive Michael Müller. “We are proud to be presenting sponsor for the seventh time and to contribute to musical diversity in Switzerland through our engagement.”

“We are grateful that Basler Versicherungen, with whom we share a history that goes back more than 20 years, recognises the power and emotionality of music,” comments Beatrice Stirnimann, chief executive of the Baloise Session.

“The Baloise Session is unique and brings fresh delights year after year”

Stirnimann calls the partnership “a valuable commitment” that gives the Baloise Sessions team “the freedom to add further melodious chapters to the 34-year history of the festival and deliver unforgettable concert experiences to visitors.”

Stephan Werthmüller, chairman of the board of Session Basel, adds that the sponsorship renewal is “a testament to a solid partnership based on mutual trust and appreciation.

According to the chairman, “such a long-standing collaboration is extraordinarily important in the field of culture.”

The 2019 edition of Baloise Sessions takes place from 12 to 31 October. The line-up for this year’s event will be announced on Wednesday (21 August), with ticket sales beginning on Wednesday 28 August.

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Baloise Session, the intimate annual concert series held in Basel, Switzerland, has announced its 2018 lineup. This year will see big names including Ms. Lauryn Hill, John Legend and George Ezra perform in the candlelit club-like setting of Basel’s Event Halle.

Running from 19 October to 6 November, the indoor festival will host ten themed concerts, including nights dedicated to ‘Indie Chartbreakers,’ ‘Songpoets’ (featuring George Ezra), ‘Pure Blues’ and ‘Iconic Night’ (featuring Ms. Lauryn Hill). Also on the bill are two ‘Evenings with…’ John Legend.

Organisers hope “stars and newcomers [will conjure] up magic moments of music” together.

This year’s event will be the 33rd edition of the festival, and the third since the death of its founder, Matthias Müller, in 2016. By putting together a characteristically genre-bending lineup of artists both up-and-coming and legendary, organisers hope “stars and newcomers [will conjure] up magic moments of music” together, in front of a crowd of 20,000 people across the series.

Last year’s event saw a similar genre-bending lineup, as Alicia Keys, Madness, Kool & the Gang and Nelly Furtado all took to the Swiss stage to perform.

The full lineup for this year’s Baloise Session can be found below:

19 October – Sunrise Avenue / Veronica Fusaro

20 October – John Legend / Alina Amuri

21 October – John Legend / Nicole Bernegger

25 October – Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals / Jimmy Cliff

26 October – Lo & Leduc / Clueso

27 October – George Ezra / Jack Savoretti

30 October – Buddy Guy / Beth Hart

2 November – Tribalistas / Maria Gadú

5 November – Ms. Lauryn Hill / Marius Bear

6 November – Walking On Cars / LP

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Essence Festival – an annual celebration of African-American music at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome (76,468-cap.) in New Orleans – welcomed more than 470,000 attendees to its 24th edition last week, increasing attendance by 25,000 and garnering what organisers call a “record-breaking” four billion impressions on social media.

Complementing a night-time concert series (headliners were Diana Ross, John Legend, Chance the Rapper and Mary J. Blige), the festival once again featured “entertainment, empowerment and cultural experiences” targeted at black Americans, with actress Halle Berry, film director Ava DuVernay, civil-rights campaigner Al Sharpton and spiritual leader Iyanla Vanzant among the more than 100 speakers.

In addition to increasing attendance by ~6%, organisers say posts tagged with the #EssenceFest hashtag drew 4bn+ impressions on social media, with the festival also trending daily on Twitter.

This, say promoters, is a new record – although it should be noted iHeartRadio claimed its 2015 festival generated more than 6.5bn impressions. (New record or not, 4bn social engagements with an arguably fairly niche festival is undeniably impressive.)

Essence Festival is produced by Essence Festivals LLC, a division of Essence Communications (the publisher of the eponymous magazine), and New Orleans-based Solomon Group. Sponsors in 2017 included AT&T, Ford, McDonald’s, Walmart and naming partner Coca-Cola.

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