Alicia Keys plots initial dates for 2012 'Freedom' tour  :
Alicia Keys has begun assembling dates for a spring arena tour to support her just-released studio set, "The Element of Freedom."

The trek, as outlined on the websites of concert promoters AEG Live and Live Nation, currently gets underway Feb. 28 in the Canadian city of Montreal, with the singer mapping nine additional dates in March and early April, including an April 6 appearance in Los Angeles. Details are included at the right, and LiveDaily will provide updates to Keys' 2012 tour schedule as additional information becomes available.

The Grammy-winning R&B/soul star dropped her fourth studio album earlier this week. "The Element of Freedom," which Keys co-produced alongside a bevy of well-known hit-makers, follows 2007's triple-platinum "As I Am."
"Doesn't Mean Anything," the first single from "The Element of Freedom," was released to radio in September. A second single, "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart," hit in November. The album also features a collaboration with Beyonce called "Put It In a Love Song."

Earlier this month, Keys streamed her World AIDS Day/Keep a Child Alive benefit concert at New York's Nokia Theatre live from her YouTube channel.

Keys is a co-founder of and the global ambassador for Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit dedicated to providing life-saving anti-retroviral treatment, care and support services to children and families in Africa and India whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS. Additional information about the KCA charity can be found at its website . ... Source ...

Alicia Keys announces first batch of 2012 tour dates :
Alicia Keys already had us won over when the tour dates in support of her new album The Element of Freedom were announced. But after watching (and re-watching) her “Empire State of Mind” remix with Steven Colbert playing the part of a WASPy Jay-Z, we’re even more excited for said outing.

The tour kicks off February 28th in Montreal. There’s a total of nine other shows across parts of Canada, the east coast and California, with the last day scheduled for April 6th in Los Angeles. If the singer-songwriter doesn’t make her way to your city, fear not as their will be plenty of more dates announced shortly.

Keys’ latest album has already spawned three singles, including the recent “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart”. The album also includes a duet with Beyonce entitled “Put It In A Love Song”. Earlier this month, on World AIDS Day, Keys performed a live concert that streamed to her YouTube channel. You can watch that performance here. Keys is also the spokeswoman and co-founder of Keep A Child Alive, a non-profit group that offers health care and various services for people and families suffering from HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.  ... Source ...

Alicia Keys Plots 'Element' North American Tour Dates :
In addition to jetting overseas for a spring arena tour, Alicia Keys will make her way through a number of North American cities.

Touring in support of her recently released album "The Element of Freedom," Keys' tour is slated to kick off February 28 in Montreal, later making rounds through Toronto, New York, and Boston.

Much of the dates are set for the month of March with at least one in April (although additional dates are expected to be announced in the near future).

As previously reported, "The Element of Freedom" is Alicia Keys' fourth studio album. ... Source ...

Upcoming Tour Dates for Alicia Keys can be found here.

Alicia Keys tour exercises 'Freedom' with 2012 concert dates :
R&B musician Alicia Keys is currently dominating the singles charts with her collaboration with Jay-Z on "Empire State of Mind." But in the New Year, it will all be about Keys as she starts to piece together a headlining tour for the late winter and early spring months.

The native New Yorker has rolled out just 10 dates for her arena tour as her schedule opens with a February 28 performance at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC. At present, the singer's routing is primarily focused in the Northeast, though the routing will eventually take her to the West Coast as she closes her jaunt on April 6 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA.

Along the way, Keys will make plenty of stops across the U.S. and Canada. Engagements are scheduled for March 10 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ON; March 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY; and March 22 at Agganis Arena in Boston, MA, among other planned stops.

Keys is getting most of her current airplay for her feature with Jay-Z, but her fourth studio album "The Element of Freedom" was just released nationally on December 15. While Brit sensation Susan Boyle's debut album is expected to snag the lead spot for a fourth straight week on next week's Billboard 200, Keys' album is projected to have sales upwards of 350,000 units for a strong opening week, according to published reports.

The singer-pianist's past three albums all topped the Billboard 200 upon their release and have earned multi-Platinum status from the RIAA. Keys' smash debut "Songs in A Minor" is still her personal best with more than six million copies sold so far, though her 2007 single "No One" leads her singles with triple-Platinum status. ... Source ...

Alicia Keys Biography (Brief) and Info :

Alicia Keys helped redefine the term "overnight sensation" when her 2001 debut effort, Songs in A Minor, sold more than 50,000 copies during its first day of release. Mixing R&B songcraft with a sultry dose of neo-soul, the album went on to move more than ten million units worldwide, officially establishing the young Alicia Keys (who was only 19 during the recording process) as an international star. Although she shared the charts with such R&B contemporaries as Destiny's Child, Keys' talents distinguished her as a different sort of diva, one who played a variety of instruments and penned the vast majority of her songs without outside help. The Diary of Alicia Keys solidified her popularity two years later, and Alicia Keys spent the rest of the decade refining her now-signature sound.

Alicia Augello Cook was born in Harlem in early 1981. Raised by her Italian-American mother, she enrolled in classical piano lessons at the age of seven and began writing songs four years later. An education at the Professional Performance Arts School helped hone her vocal skills, and Alicia graduated at the age of 16 as the class valedictorian. Two Columbias loomed on the immediate horizon: Columbia University and Columbia Records, both of whom had extended offers to the talented student/musician. Although she attempted to make both options work, Alicia found it difficult to juggle the two commitments and chose to focus exclusively on her music career. Assuming the stage name of Alicia Keys, she began to work with Columbia and contributed a song to the Men in Black soundtrack, but disputes with the label resulted in her contract's termination.

Keys bounced back by aligning herself with Clive Davis, the president of Arista Records, but work on her debut album stalled when Davis was ousted from the company in 2000. Davis soon formed his own label, J Records, and welcomed Keys back into the fold with an aggressive publicity campaign (including an influential appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show). Songs in A Minor was then released in June 2001 and debuted at the top of the charts, eventually netting five Grammys and platinum certifications in ten different countries. Released in 2003, The Diary of Alicia Keys enjoyed similar Grammy-certified success, and Keys released a book of poetry the following year. A live CD/DVD package, Unplugged, arrived in 2005 and followed Keys' two previous releases to the top of the charts, even if it failed to win any of the four Grammys for which it was nominated. Alicia Keys then entered the acting world, starring in both Smokin' Aces and The Nanny Diaries in 2007, before issuing the pop-influenced As I Am later that year. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide
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