CALIFORNIA, United States, Friday February 27, 2015 – After weeks of rumours, it’s now official: Barbadian superstar Rihanna will share the stage with rapper Kanye West in a joint tour this summer.
Live Nation has confirmed the first date of their eagerly anticipated tour for July 25th in Tallinn, Estonia. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale March 5th.
Although the Unapologetic girl’s music delves into a different musical spectrum than West’s previous high-profile tour mates Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar, their upcoming on-stage partnership is said to come as no surprise.
West, who has been teasing his new album, is currently serving as the executive producer of Rihanna’s upcoming new album, which is reportedly also due out soon.
The pair also recently collaborated on the country-tinged ballad “FourFiveSeconds” with Sir Paul McCartney, going on to perform the song together at the Grammys.
As West told Ryan Seacrest: “I said I’d done a few songs with Paul McCartney and she couldn’t get past this record. She had to have it on her album…. So now we at the Grammys doing it.”
In another interview, West likened Rihanna’s vocals to those of Annie Lennox and praised the energy in her voice on the song: “She even brought it to another level of soul and heart and artistry,” he said.
The pair have also collaborated on several other tracks over the years and were featured on Jay Z’s “Run This Town,” which West co-produced in 2009.
Rihanna and West also got together when the songstress took a break from making her own music videos to star in one of the rapper’s, appearing in the black-and-white clip for “Paranoid,” from West’s 808s & Heartbreak album.
West’s “All of the Lights,” from his 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, featured guest appearances by John Legend, Fergie, Alicia Keys, and Sir Elton John. Rihanna nevertheless held her own and stood out from the crowd of major talent.
The “Talk That Talk”girl also performed with West and her former boyfriend Drake at the NBA All-Star game halftime show in 2011, going on to feature West in a remix of her hit single “Diamonds.”
Rihanna and the rapper also got together at the DirecTV pre–Super Bowl party in January and delivered a performance that “looked to be electric,” according to vogue.com.
The pair reportedly cycled through some of each other’s biggest hits at the event, and gave the best preview yet of what to expect from their 2015 tour.