Janet Jackson to open "Rock Witchu" tour in September

Janet Jackson speaks to students during a promotional event at a dance school in Tokyo April 10, 2008. Jackson said on Monday she will hit the road for the first time in seven years with the Canadian launch in September of her ''Rock Witchu'' arena tour through North America.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop singer Janet Jackson said on Monday she will hit the road for the first time in seven years with the Canadian launch in September of her "Rock Witchu" arena tour through North America.

Jackson, 42, revealed plans for her upcoming concert series during an appearance on the television talk show hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, saying, "I can't wait."

The U.S.-Canadian outing will open September 7 in Vancouver, British Columbia, with subsequent dates scheduled for New York and Washington, D.C., according to a spokesman for concert promoter Live Nation, which is organizing the tour.

A full itinerary will be announced in the near future, he said.

Live Nation also handled Jackson's last two jaunts -- the 1998-99 "Velvet Rope" tour and the 2001-2002 "All for You" tour.

Although Jackson rarely takes to the road, she ranks as one of the most successful female touring artists of all time. According to "Billboard Boxscore," she sold nearly 2 million tickets to 161 shows and grossed $94 million between 1993 and 2002.

Jackson's album sales struggled following her now-infamous "wardrobe malfunction" during her 2004 Super Bowl halftime performance with Justin Timberlake.

But her latest release, "Discipline," opened in March at the pinnacle of the Billboard 200 chart, marking the sixth chart topper of her career and surpassing the five No. 1 albums logged by her more famous brother, Michael Jackson.

She is currently collaborating with her nutritionist, David Allen, on a book about her travails with weight fluctuations.

Reuters/Nielsen