After the word last week that Nicki Minaj was in “talks” with Britney Spears’ camp about joining her Femme Fatale Tour, it’s confirmed this week that the MC has been formally added to the stint.
Minaj is slated as “special guest” on the summer trek, with Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo on the marquee as openers. That makes it an all-female bill.
This comes after Enrique Iglesias dropped out of the tour the same day the Femme Fatale Tour was announced last month. He was originally on as a co-headliner; industry insiders suspected that his appearance would be considered less of a co-headliner than a supporting slot, which may account for his departure.
The Young Money rapper, meanwhile, pulled a similar stunt last year, when she was added as opener to Rihanna’s Rated R tour. She dropped off the same week. It was estimated she was under-prepared to start performing on a large-scale tour, or perhaps Rihanna’s weak ticket sales were a poor indicator of interest in the tour altogether. There was also the issue that Minaj was aligning herself more with hip-hop than pop — a perspective which will obviously change with this trek. The title “special guest” seems to have been a negotiating point.
As previously reported, the Femme Fatale Tour kicks off June 16 in California and continues through mid-August. All dates and on-sales below.
Here are Britney Spears’ tour dates:
June 16 Sacramento, CA Power Balance Pavilion On Sale April 30
June 18 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion On Sale April 30
June 20 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center On Sale April 30
June 24 Anaheim, CA Honda Center On Sale April 30
June 25 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena On Sale April 30
June 28 Portland, OR Rose Garden Arena On Sale May 7
June 29 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome On Sale May 7
July 1 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena On Sale May 7
July 4 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre On Sale May 7
July 6 St. Paul, MN Xcel Center On Sale May 7
July 8 Chicago, IL United Center On Sale April 30
July 12 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center On Sale May 7
July 13 Houston, TX Toyota Center On Sale May 7
July 15 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena On Sale May 14
July 17 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena On Sale May 7
July 20 Orlando, FL Amway Center On Sale May 7
July 22 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena On Sale April 30
July 26 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena On Sale May 7
July 28 Detroit, MI Palace of Auburn Hills On Sale April 30
July 30 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center On Sale May 7
July 31 Washington, DC Verizon Center On Sale May 7
August 2 Uniondale, NY Nassau Coliseum On Sale April 30
August 5 East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center On Sale April 30
August 8 Boston, MA TD Garden On Sale May 7
August 11 Montreal, QC Bell Centre On Sale May 7
August 13 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre On Sale April 30