“Heart of the City,” the highly anticipated tour starring Mary J Blige and Jay-Z, already has had several shows sell out ahead of the launch in late March.  Additional dates are still being added.

According to a recent press release from Live Nation, the tour promoter, within hours of the first shows going on sale all the tickets were snapped up by fans in Boston; Washington, DC;  East Rutherford, NJ; Uniondale, NY; and Baltimore.

Tickets will be going on sale on February 22 for a new round of dates, which includes a recently added Chicago performance.  Pre sale tickets will be made available to Citi card holders starting on February 20.

“Heart of the City Tour” will launch in Miami on March 22.  It is expected the tour will visit at least 25 North American city arenas.  Additional shows will be announced at a later date.

The tour will be the first arena performances for Jay-Z since his 2004 hyped retirement.  He mounted a brief club tour late last year in support of “American Gangster,” his November release.  It was the 10th studio set for Jay-Z and his tenth No. 1 album.

Blige is touring in support of “Growing Pains,” her ninth studio album that was released in December.  The set hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart and during the first two weeks of its release sold 800,000 copies.

Earlier this month at the Grammy Awards, both stars added trophies.  Blige’s duets with Chaka Khan on “Disrespectful” and Aretha Franklin on “Never Gonna Break My Faith” respectively won Best R&B Performance and Best Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.  Jay-Z was featured on “Umbrella,” the hit single from Rihanna which was the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Grammy award winner.

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