Chris Brown and Usher have joined forces for a collab tour, three years after rumors of a fight between them surfaced.
Two of R&B’s iconic singers are kicking off their 33-date “Raymond and Brown” tour on June 26 in Denver. They’ll hit major cities including Detroit, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles before wrapping things up in Tampa on December 11.
Raymond and Brown Tour
Both artists have been coming off successful tours within the last 2 years. Usher recently finished the North American leg of his “Past, Present, Future” tour, which sold more than 1.1 million tickets and sold out 62 shows.
Both artists posted a trailer on their Instagram accounts to announce the news. It showed two motorcyclists racing through a city to reach a parking lot. Once there, they removed their helmets, revealing that they were Usher and Brown.
For Brown, last year he closed out his “Breezy Bowl XX World Tour,” which became the highest-grossing tour by a solo Black American male artist, bringing in almost $300 million and having 2 million fans in total at all his shows.
Fans have been waiting for decades to see the two artists perform together. Both have loyal followings thanks to their long careers.
Some people are super excited and calling this one of the best collaborations on stage ever. However, some Usher fans are less enthusiastic and unsupportive because of Chris Brown’s controversial past with domestic violence and what it means for sharing the stage with Usher.
Usher and Brown’s Past
Usher and Brown have been working together for over 20 years. They’ve collaborated on several songs, including the 2014 hit “New Flame” and “Party.” Both are known for their similarities in mixing R&B and dance, making them among the greatest entertainers in music.
Outside of music, in the media, Brown’s image suffers because of his legal problems with violence, mainly related to his behavior toward women he has dated.
Usher’s criticism is more recent. He has faced backlash for his relationship with music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, especially after saying in a March Forbes interview that he has nothing negative to say about Diddy.
Overall, the announcement of the tour was not fully accepted; the feedback from users on social media was due to the artist’s actions. Many people pointed out the growing issue of a lack of accountability regarding popular music artists.
Not only is criticism coming from the media, but criticism is also coming from both fan bases, going back and forth with each other.
Brown’s fans are calling out Usher for being a leech and only using Chris Brown for the stadium tour to boost sales, especially seeing how successful Brown’s tour went last year.
Others also speak on how Usher didn’t invite Brown to perform on stage with him at the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
It seems that the two icons are not worried about the public’s opinion of them coming together amid the controversies they can’t remove from their name.
Supporters of music are hoping for more influential artists to start taking accountability and providing transparency.
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