Mary J. Blige Continues Her 2022 Hot Streak With 'Good Morning Gorgeous' Fall Tour

Mary J. Blige started out 2022 in a huge way, as part of a historic Super Bowl Halftime Show in February, followed with her own curated “Strength of a Woman Festival And Summit” in Atlanta, and she’s continuing her hot streak with the announcement of the 23-city “Good Morning Gorgeous” tour with Ella Mai and Queen Naija that launches Sept. 17 in Greensboro, N.C.

The dates announced run through Oct. 29 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., with more shows likely to be added at a later date, according to the Black Promoters Collective that is promoting the tour.

In between, Blige and Co. will make stops in major cities and arenas across the country including Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Oakland, New Orleans and Nashville, among others.

Presales begin today for American Express Card Members through 10 p.m. local time June 16 here. Public onsales begin June 17 at 10 a.m. local time and ticket prices range from $69.50 to $189.50.

Since her acclaimed Super Bowl Halftime performance with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem, Blige released Good Morning Gorgeous, with the title track going to No. 1 at R&B radio for nine weeks. It also took on a life of its own on TikTok, where more than 40,000 users created their own interpretations on the song.

And that was followed by the “Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit” May 7 in Atlanta. The event sold out State Farm Arena, moving 11,337 tickets and grossing $1,010,146 as reported to Pollstar.

“Good Morning Gorgeous” tourmates Ella Mai and Queen Naiji reunite with Blige, who brought them to the “Strength of a Woman” event as well. Ella Mai, whose 2018 smash “Boo’d Up,” made her a household name with her very first single. She’s also a Grammy Award winner, and her latest single, “Not Another Love Song” is the first from her newest album, Heart On My Sleeve, released just last month.

Blige, already the undisputed “Queen of Hip Hop Soul,” continues piling up the honors beyond music as well. She was listed in Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People of 2022” and received a Billboard ICON award earlier this year.

Those honors are just the latest in Blige’s long and storied career as a singer, producer, actor and philanthropist. With a track record of eight multi-platinum albums, nine Grammy Awards (plus a staggering 32 nominations), two Academy Award nominations, two Golden Globe nominations, and a Screen Actors Guild nomination, has a track record spanning not just music genres, but culture.

It makes her a perfect fit for the Black Promoters Collective, which has been putting up some impressive numbers in 2022 with New Edition and Maxwell. And Blige’s partnership with BPC fills the bill for reasons beyond the hits, awards and box office figures.

“Mary J. Blige has been one of a select handful of artists at the top of our desired list to partner with since the initial construction of the BPC,” says co-founder and president Shelby Joyner. “Having her support in our mission so early in the process is a testament to the hard work we have put in to bring superior cultural experiences powered by black business to the masses. We firmly believe this is a match made in heaven and are honored to partner with the Queen.”

The Black Promoters Collective is unusual among concert promotors and producers in that it is truly a collective — membership isn’t restricted to concert promoters and includes venue operators, festival directors and other business owners. Its members face many of the same challenges, not only thanks to a viral pandemic, but historically with a segregated industry wrestling with its own history.

“There’s no better brand and talent to work with than Mary J. Blige,” BPC CEO Gary Guidry tells Pollstar. “You know, she’s the queen of R&B. She’s the pinnacle of being a female artist in this space, and she’s having a heck of a year. I think the success of her earlier tours, along with the mission of what we’re trying to accomplish as a as a group of independent promoters – proving that we can go into the marketplace and sell more tickets with a greater level of detail and attention to the artist’s needs, with the relationships in the community to get the word out even stronger on a grassroots level.”

When the BPC talks about “partnerships,” they mean it. They, and Blige, are teaming with Hologic – a technology leader in the field of women’s health to produce the tour and add a component of health education. They share a goal of moving communities forward.

“We weren’t just looking to promote shows. We weren’t just looking to sign artists, but we were looking to partner with artists,” BCP Chief Marketing Officer A. Troy Brown explains. “When you can partner with a brand like Mary J. Blige, as well as partner with her mission and as an artist and her beliefs, which we want to share with our community, that’s really what we set out to do. And this is an opportunity for us to tap into that mission.”

Good Morning Gorgeous 2022:

Saturday, 9/17 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum

Sunday, 9/18 Washington, DC Capital One Arena

Wednesday, 9/21 Charlotte, NC Spectrum Center

Thursday, 9/22 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center

Saturday, 9/24 Detroit, MI Little Caesars Arena

Sunday, 9/25 Chicago, IL United Center

Wednesday, 9/28 Birmingham, AL Legacy Center at BJCC

Thursday, 9/29 Atlanta, GA State Farm Arena

Saturday, 10/1 Houston, TX Toyota Center

Sunday, 10/2 Fort Worth, TX Dickies Arena

Thursday, 10/6 Oakland, CA Oakland Arena

Saturday, 10/8 Las Vegas, NV Michelob Ultra Arena

Sunday, 10/9 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum

Wednesday, 10/12 St. Louis, MO Enterprise Center

Saturday, 10/15 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center

Sunday, 10/16 Memphis, TN FedEx Forum

Wednesday, 10/19 Cleveland, OH Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse

Thursday, 10/20 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center

Saturday, 10/22 Hampton, VA Hampton Coliseum

Sunday, 10/23 Newark, NJ Prudential Center

Wednesday, 10/26 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena

Thursday, 10/27 Cincinnati, OH Heritage Bank Center

Saturday, 10/29 Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall