VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC/Asbury Park Press) -- Ms. Lauryn Hill is looking back and going home.
Hill, who was born and raised in Orange, N.J., is returning to the road this summer to celebrate the 20th anniversary of her landmark 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
The tour kicks off Thursday, July 5, at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach and runs for nearly 30 dates through Friday, October 5.
According to her Facebook page, Hill will perform her Miseducation album at every stop on the tour.
In 1997, Hill and her Fugees bandmates Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel had all began working on solo projects. Hers was to be Miseducation, her only solo studio album.
Released in August 1998, Miseducation, a rap/sung hybrid, became a phenomenon on the strength of the singles Doo Wop (That Thing) and Everything is Everything. It won five Grammy Awards in 1999, including Album of the Year. It is one of two rap albums to win music's biggest prize; the other was Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2004.
Where has she been?
Overwhelmed by the pressures of fame, she largely dropped out of sight in the early 2000s. She and partner Rohan Marley had two children during this period.
Hill, now 42, toured and released new music only sporadically between 2002 and 2013, when she served three months in federal prison for failure to pay income tax. She returned to the road in November of that year, partly to help pay her back taxes.
Later in 2016, she faced criticism for showing up several hours late for tour dates in Atlanta and Pittsburgh. In a Facebook post that May, she blamed her tardiness on her perfectionist tendencies and circadian rhythms.
"I don't show up late to shows because I don't care. And I have nothing but love and respect for my fans," she wrote. "The challenge is aligning my energy with the time, taking something that isn't easily classified or contained, and trying to make it available for others. I don't have an on/off switch. I am at my best when I am open, rested, sensitive and liberated to express myself as truthfully as possible."
When and where to get tickets
After a string of festival dates in April and June, her current tour kicks off Thursday, July 5, at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach and runs for nearly 30 dates through Friday, Oct. 5, at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis.
Tickets and VIP experiences go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, April 20 at 10 a.m. at the Ford box office at the amphitheater, charge by phone 800-745-3000 or buy at LiveNation.com. More details will be announced soon, including international dates, as well as the full lineup with Special Guest performers at each show on the tour.
See the full list of dates below:
July 5 — Virginia Beach, Va. – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
July 8 — Bristow, Va. – Jiffy Lube Live
July 11 — Boston – Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
July 13 — Philadelphia – Festival Pier
July 15 — Wantagh, N.Y. – Northwell Health at Jones Beach
July 18 — Toronto – Budweiser Stage
July 20 — Sterling Heights, Mich. – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
July 22 — Chicago – Pitchfork Music Festival
July 25 — Charlotte, N.C. – Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
July 26 — Raleigh, N.C. – Red Hat Amphitheater
July 29 — St. Petersburg, Fla. – Al Lang Stadium
July 31 — Miami – Bayfront Park Amphitheater
Aug. 2 — Jacksonville, Fla. – Daily’s Place
Aug. 3 — Atlanta – State Bank Amphitheatre
Aug. 5 — Nashville, Tenn. – Nashville Municipal Auditorium
Aug. 8 — Holmdel, N.J. – PNC Bank Arts Center
Sept. 7 — Las Vegas – The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas
Sept. 9 — San Diego – Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
Sept. 12 — Portland, Ore. – Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Sept. 14 — Burnaby, British Columbia – Deer Lake Park
Sept. 15 — Kent, Wash. – ShoWare Center
Sept. 20 — Mountain View, Calif. – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sept. 22 — Phoenix – Comerica Theatre
Sept. 24 — Albuquerque, N.M. – Isleta Amphitheatre
Sept. 26 — Morrison, Colo. – Red Rock Amphitheatre
Sept. 29 — Sugar Land, Texas – Smart Financial Centre
Sept. 30 — Irving, Texas – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
Oct. 3 — New Orleans – UNO Lakefront Arena
Oct. 5 — St. Louis – Chaifetz Arena
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