Donna Summer colors tour with 'Crayons'
Donna Summer is back with her first collection of new material in 17 years, and she'll support it with a North American tour.
The outing, set to launch June 24 in Nashville, sticks close to the East Coast in July and jumps to the West Coast in August. It includes two-night stands in Rama, Ontario; Atlantic City, NJ; Richmond, British Columbia; Windsor, Ontario; and Los Angeles. Details are listed below.
Summer's forthcoming album, "Crayons," is scheduled to drop May 20. The set marks the pop icon's first full-length studio album of new material since 1991's "Mistaken Identity," and her first new release since the 1999 live CD/DVD "VH1 Presents Donna Summer : Live & More - Encore!," which was taped at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom.
The 12 tracks on "Crayons"--all co-written by Summer--cover everything from pop to world music to retro-modern dance.
"I wanted this album to have a lot of different directions on it; I did not want it to be any one baby," Summer said in a statement. "I just wanted it to be a sampler of flavors and influences from all over the world. There's a touch of this, a little smidgen of that, a dash of something else ... like when you're cooking."
The lead single, "I'm a Fire," is currently holding the top spot on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart. Several sample versions of the song are streaming at Summer's MySpace page.
The five-time Grammy winner rocketed to superstardom in the mid-'70s, when she was dubbed "The Queen of Disco." In 1975, she scored her first international hit, "Love to Love You Baby," which paved the way for chart-toppers including "MacArthur Park," "Bad Girls," "Hot Stuff," "Dim All the Lights," "On the Radio," "Last Dance" and "Enough is Enough" with Barbra Streisand.
Summer, who holds the record for most consecutive double albums to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts (three), has sold an estimated 130 million records and charted 21 No. 1 singles, according to her bio. In 2004, she became one of the first inductees to the Dance Music Hall of Fame.
June 2008
24 - Nashville, TN - T-PAC
26 - Marksville, LA - Paragon Casino & Resort/Mari Center
July 2008
3 - Newport News, VA - Ferguson Center for the Arts
5 - Vienna ,VA - The Filene Center
8 - Gilford, NH - Meadowbrook Musical Arts Center
9 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
11 - Bethel, NY - Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
12 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
16 - Baltimore, MD - Pier Six Concert Pavilion
18 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
19 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Music Theater
20 - Salamanca, NY - Seneca Allegany Casino
22-23 - Rama, Ontario - Casino Rama
25-26 - Atlantic City, NJ - Caesars Atlantic City
27 - Westhampton Beach, NY - Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center
August 2008
6 - Seattle, WA - Benaroya Hall
8-9 - Richmond, British Columbia - River Rock Casino Resort
10 - Spokane, WA - Northern Quest Casino
13 - Saratoga, CA - The Mountain Winery
15 - Reno, NV - Peppermill Reno Hotel Casino
16 - Oakland, CA - Paramount Theatre of the Arts
17 - Santa Rosa, CA - Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
20 - Alpine, CA - Viejas Concerts in the Park
22-23 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
27-28 - Windsor, Ontario - Windsor Casino
30 - Highland Park, IL - Ravinia Pavilion
31 - Prior Lake, MN - Mystic Lake Casino
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