Blige, Thicke join forces for U.S. tour

By Jonathan Cohen

NEW YORK (Billboard) - R&B stars Mary J. Blige and Robin Thicke will hit the road together in North America this fall.

Their scheduled tour dates begin September 13 in Charleston, South Carolina, and run through October 19 in Los Angeles.

Blige's "Growing Pains" has sold 1.54 million copies in the United States since its release in the fall, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Fans can grab pre-sale tickets via the artist's Web site.

Thicke will be promoting his upcoming album, "Something Else," due September 30. The artist told Billboard that he recently completed a remix of the track "Magic" that features Blige, and that it may appear on "Something Else" as a bonus track.

Thicke has written the theme song for "Push," a new movie by Lee Daniels, a producer of "Monster's Ball." Co-starring Thicke's wife, Paula Patton, as a teacher, the film takes place in '80s Harlem amid the crack epidemic. Thicke is also penning a screenplay that he describes as "a spy thriller love thing like 'The Bourne Supremacy'" and writing a book of poetry.

Reuters/Billboard