There are many artists hitting the road this summer, but R&B singer Maxwell has a little something special up his sleeve for his upcoming tour.

First of all, the tour will last only six dates in three cities. But over the course of the three two-night stands in each city the tour hits, Maxwell will perform his entire four album discography.

The tour will kick off July 20-21, when the singer plays the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Then he will head to Atlanta to play Philips Arena July 27-28, and he will end up in Newark, N.J., where he will play the Prudential Center August 3-4.

At every stop, Maxwell will play his first two albums, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite and Embrya during the first night of the tour. Then he will play his most recent two albums, Now and BLACKsummers’night, on the second night.

The tour will be the first time Maxwell has ever performed his albums in their entirety, and he also will be featuring new materials during the concerts. He will be touring with an 11-piece band for the trek.

If you are an Obama supporter, there’s even further good news for you about the tour. Maxwell will be offering custom Obama-Biden 2012 merchandise for sale at the tour stops. All proceeds from these items will go to Obama for America.

Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite was released in 1996 and received widespread attention when its second single, “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder),” was released later that year. The album went on to sell over 2 million copies and was nominated for  a Grammy Award.

The singer’s biggest hit to date, however, was “Fortunate,” a song written by R. Kelly and featured on Maxwell’s second album Embrya. That song was the most successful R&B single of 1999.

After releasing Now in 2001, Maxwell took eight years before he released BLACKsummers’night.

Maxwell, the soul singer, is the most recent high profile artist who has postponed a large number of shows scheduled for this summer.

A recent press release from Maxwell’s publicity firm, Shore Fire Media, stated that due to venue scheduling conflicts the addition tour dates of Maxwell’s with Melanie Fiona, which were scheduled to start in Greensboro, NC on June 28, are being postponed until 2011.

However, Maxwell will still be touring through June 28. He has a string of shows scheduled with Erykah Badu or Jill Scott providing support.

The shows that were recently canceled were scheduled for June 28 to July 15. Ticket holders will receive refunds. The press released stated that it isn’t expected that new dates will be announced until later this year.

Tour cancellations for this summer have been unusually high. They include U2, Simon & Garfunkel, Limp Bizkit, Christina Aguilera and many others.

Jill Scott and Maxwell, who announced plans recently for a co-headlining spring tour, have released a detailed itinerary for their trek.

The outing will kick off in Cleveland on May 21, with stops planned for an additional 19 cities running through until June and wrapping up in Madison Square Garden on June 25.

Last fall Maxwell went on a headlining run of North America. He continues to support “BLACKsummers’night,” his chart topping release from 2009. The album has been billed as the first set of a trilogy. The second set, “BlackSUMMERS’night,” will be released later this year, with the final set “Blacksummers’NIGHT,” expected to be released in 2011.

Scott’s road trip this spring with Maxwell will proceed the release of her new album “The Light of the Sun,” which will be released this summer. It will be her first studio album since “The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3,” which was released in 2007.

Maxwell, Beyonce and Keri Hilson, with four nominations each, are leading the list of nominees for Soul Train’s 2009 Awards which will be given out next month.

Beyonce, Grammy award winner, has been nominated for: Best Female R&B/Soul Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year for the song “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” and her set “I Am… Sasha Fierce has been nominated for Album of the Year.

R&B singer Keri Hilson is rivaling Maxwell and Beyonce for Song of the Year with her and Lil Wayne’s “Turnin’ Me On.” For the song “Knock You Down” she has been nominated for Record of the Year and with Ne-Yo and Kayne West for “Knock You Down” has been nominated for Best Collaboration. Hilson is also up as Best New Artist of the year.

The first new material from Maxwell since 2001 has been nominated as well. Maxwell has been nominated as Best Male R&B/Soul Artist, for “BLACKsummer’snight” he has received an Album of the Year nomination, and for “Pretty Wings” has been nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard, actors and Academy Award nominees, will be hosting the awards ceremony on November 3. It will be filmed and then broadcast on CENTRIC and BET on November 29.

The show will be honoring and having special musical tributes for Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, L.A. Reid, Charlie Wilson and Chaka Khan Entertainer of the Year Award will go to Michael Jackson in recognition of his dramatic showmanship and icon status.

Angie Stone, Boyz II Men, Chrisette Michele, Fantasia Erykah Badu and Toni Braxton will be performing at the awards ceremony along with others.

Maxwell has added several shows onto the end of his upcoming arena tour this fall in support of “BLACKsummers’night,” his fourth studio album.

Concerts have been added for North Little Rock AR on October 10; Memphis, TN on October 20; New Orleans on October 21; and Baltimore on October 23. The 18 city, month long outing will kick off in Toronto on September 25.

Chrisette Michele and Common will be the openers on the tour.

The latest release from Maxwell “BLACKsummers’night,” debuted on top of Billboard’s 200 chart in July. The new album was the first new material from Maxwell since “Now” in 2001. The album is also the first set of a planned trilogy. According to a recent press release, in 2010 “BlackSUMMERS’night is scheduled to be released with “Blacksummers’NIGHT due out in 2011.

Maxwell wrote on his website, I can’t believe I am doing this. You live your life, taking the garbage out, going to the store. Before you know it you are at Radio City Music Hall on stage. It’s very humbling. You would think my ego would be out of control. However what I feel is humility.

The Los Angeles Times last month added Maxwell to their Grammy watch list for 2010. In December the 2010 nominees for the Grammys will be announced.

The R&B, Soul explosion of Maxwell is alive and well wrapped up in his fourth studio album “BLACKsummers’night.” He’s also successfully completed a 24-city run this summer roaming the US, selling out every show in his wake. He’s not one to rest on his laurels as he prepares to take on a 14-city tour this fall touching Canada and blanketing the remaining US.

Common and Chrisette Michele will be onboard to support his effort that starts at the Air Canada Center in Toronto on September 25 and wraps in San Francisco, California on October 17. The starkest difference between this tour and the summer tour that just lapsed is Maxwell will be focusing his stops on large arenas whereas clubs and theatre shows were the name of the game before. For complete tour information, visit Maxwell Tour.

“BLACKsummers’night” marks Maxwell‘s first effort since 2001′s “Now,” and took the number 1 slot on the Billboard 200 the initial week of its release. To add plenty of confusion to his fans everywhere, “BLACKsummers’night” is simply the first in a trilogy of albums to be released in 2010 and 2011 all basically carrying the same name (“blackSUMMERS’night” and “blacksummers’NIGHT”). Good luck trying to decipher your way through the record store.

Maxwell 2009 Tour Dates
September 2009
25 – Toronto, Ontario – Air Canada Centre
26 – Detroit, MI – Joe Louis Arena
28 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
30 – Richmond, VA – Richmond Coliseum

October 2009
2 – Washington, DC – Verizon Center
3 – Philadelphia, PA – The Wachovia Spectrum
5 – Atlanta, GA – Phillips Arena
6 – Charlotte, NC – Time Warner Cable Arena
8 – Chicago, IL – United Center
9 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
12 – Dallas, TX – TBA
13 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
16 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
17 – San Francisco, CA – TBA

Apparently the fans of Maxwell have missed the R&B singer, as indicated by “BLACKsummers’night” sales in its first week out. The album is the first new set from Maxwell in eight years.

“BLACKsummers’night” during its first week sold 316,000 copies, claiming Billboard 200′s No. 1 spot. It is Maxwell‘s single week sales career high. According to retail data from Nielsen SoundScan “Now,” Maxwell’s previous album from 2001, also debuted in the No. 1 spot.

In the meantime another “Hannah Montana” high charting album “Hannah Montana 3,” debuted at No. 2, selling 137,000 copies. The hits compilation “Now 31” dropped two spots down to No. 3 selling 101,000 copies. “Nothing Personal” from All Time Low debuted in the No. 4 spot with sales of 63,000 copies. “The E.N.D.” from the Black Eyed Peas held its No. 5 spot selling slightly less than “Nothing Personal.”

The Top 10 was rounded out with “American Saturday Night” from Brad Paisley, dropping down to No. 6 with 44,000 copies sold. “Cradlesong” from Rob Thomas” dropped to No. 7, selling 41,000 copies. “Fearless” from Taylor Swift was in the No. 8 spot, selling 36,000 copies. “Relapse” from Eminem” sold 34,000 copies for the No. 9 spot, and “Lines Vines and Trying Times” from the Jonas Brothers sold slightly less than Eminem for the No. 10 spot.

In other news, the catalog of Michael Jackson continues selling well, in the wake of his recent death. The solo albums of Jackson during the last sales week sold 1.1 million copies combined. Fans have purchased over 2.3 million Jackson albums since the singer’s death two and one half weeks ago.

This summer Maxwell will be hitting the road to support “BLACKsummers’night,” the first new studio set from him in almost a decade.

Maxwell’s run of North America will kick off in Milwaukee on June 20, and over six weeks travel coast to coast. The outing of 23 cities will wrap up in Orlando on August 2. There has been no announcement on venues yet.

BLACKsummers’night” was released on July 7. The album is the first set of a planned trilogy with “BlackSUMMERS’Night” due to be released in 2010 and then “BlackSummers’NIGHT” to follow in 2011. Maxwell reunited with Hod David, long time collaborator, for the production and song writing on the album.

The upcoming first single from the album “Pretty Wings” is currently available. On April 28 the track’s video premiered on “106 & Park” on BET and is on Maxwell’s website.

On July 4, Maxwell will be the headliner at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. Last fall the R&B singer spent most of his time on the road. It was the first live shows for Maxwell in six years. Last October Maxwell performed in South Africa for the very first time at Macufe Music Festival.

“Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite” the debut album from Maxwell, was released in 1996. He received a Best R&B Album Grammy nomination and RIAA certified the album as double platinum. “Now,” his most recent release from 2001, was Maxwell’s third studio album. It debuted in the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart.

A couple new dates have been added by Maxwell to his upcoming, greatly anticipated comeback tour. It will feature the first live shows from the reclusive singer in over six years.

The trek will be kicking off in Boston on October 8. New shows have been added for Toronto on October 12 as well as New York City on November 23, Oakland on October 28 and 29, Houston on November 6 and 7, and Washington D.C. on November 17 and 18.

In recent press statements Maxwell has described his upcoming tour as a pre-party touring celebration for his upcoming album “BLACKsummers’night,” the first of a planned trilogy of studio albums Maxwell is planning to release over a three year period. The first installment is due out this year from Columbia. “Pretty Wings,” the first track is streaming from the MySpace page of Maxwell’s. “Summers” will follow in 2010 and then “Night” in 2011.

Last year, Kyambo “Hip Hop” Joshua, Columbia executive, told Billboard that Maxwell was still working with Sade’s band. He took time off. He’s ready now.

According to data from Nielsen SoundScan, the previous album of Maxwell’s, “Now,” sold over 1.7 million US copies.

In June, Maxwell delighted his fans. During an Al Green tribute he made a surprising appearance as part of the BET Awards’ nationally televised program to sing Al Green’s song “Simply Beautiful.”