Last weekend (July 13-14), reggae and dancehall legend Buju Banton rocked New York’s UBS Arena for two bombastic sold-out shows — his first U.S. performances in 13 years. As it turns out, those two shows were just the beginning of Gargamel’s massive Stateside comeback.
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Today (July 15), Billboard can exclusively reveal that the Grammy-winning superstar is mounting a 14-date U.S. arena trek dubbed ‘The Overcomer Tour.’ Three-time Grammy-nominated R&B singer-songwriter Fridayy will serve as the tour’s special guest. Produced by AG Touring, a Black-owned company, in association with Gargamel Music and XO Management, The Overcomer Tour will kick off on Aug. 24 at Amerant Bank Arena in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and visit major U.S. cities such as Houston, Atlanta and Boston, before concluding on Nov. 17 at Barclay Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Fans can purchase tickets at Banton’s official website . Pre-sale begins Wednesday, July 16 at 10 a.m. local time; General onsale starts Friday, July 19 at 10 a.m. local time.
“In each state of the United States of America, you have different synergy of people, different melting pot of ethnicities coming together. And when the music that they love comes around, they react in one harmonious way, just enjoying themselves,” Banaton tells Billboard via Zoom during a rehearsal break that was later crashed by the legendary Marcia Griffiths. “That’s a remarkable feeling to share among the masses. After not being here for quite some time, I look forward to reigniting that passion and euphoria.”
And it has been quite some time since the star last performed in the States. Just one day after he won the 2011 best reggae album Grammy for his timeless Before the Dawn , Banton’s criminal trial kicked off in Tampa, FL. He was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense and using communication wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offense. Banton was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
The now 50-year-old spent eight years in Georgia’s McRae Correctional Institution and regained his freedom on Dec. 7, 2018. Since his release, Banton signed with Roc Nation and launched a pair of Grammy-nominated LPs: 2020’s Upside Down 2020 and 2023’s Born for Greatness . He has also appeared on several major film soundtracks — including 2020’s Bad Boys for Life and 2024’s The Book of Clarenc e — and returned to touring around the world, most notably with 2019’s Long Walk to Freedom concert in Kingston, Jamaica, his first post-release performance.
As he prepares to head back on the road, Banton is letting the music lead the way. “Music knows no time, so we don’t have a clock inside the rehearsal room,” he says. “We just do what the music calls us to, and when we feel like we’ve accomplished something, we call it a day and then resume the next day and reconvene.”
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With a career that spans nearly 40 years, Banton has an extensive catalog to pull from. He has sent 12 projects to the top 10 of Reggae Albums, including 1997’s eight-week chart-topper Inna Heights . From “Make My Day” and “Champion” to “Wanna Be Loved,” “Blessed” and “Buried Alive,” Banton has soundtracked nearly four decades of dancehall and reggae, bringing the two genres to myriad global audiences and defining multiple generations along the way. Of course, such a deep discography complicates the task of crafting a tour setlist, and Banton isn’t particularly keen on remaining married to a particular collection of songs.
“My catalog is rather extensive, so to highlight one or two songs would be cheating a lot of people and will also be putting my foot in my mouth,” he jokes. “I don’t want to suffer from that deadly disease — foot and mouth disease. You don’t want to catch it! I try to make the masses a part of what I am doing in whatever way I can. We also try to poll to find out what’s the favorite in each territory. It’s important. In modern times we have so much tools, back in the day we didn’t have all this at our fingertips. I want to do more.”
Of course, with a new tour comes new music, and Banton promises a new album that’s “100% dancehall, hardcore roots reggae, something fi yuh skank on, fi di gyal dem bruk wild!” As Banton tells it, “the music needs help and that’s not a secret,” so, with his new record and tour, he hopes to “reignite the passion of reggae music and let [people] know it hasn’t died.” While he hasn’t decided if he wants to prioritize collaborations on the new album, he looks fondly at “Body Touching Body” and “Party Girls,” his two 2023 Victoria Monét duets. “I tried some R&Reggae with Victoria Monét and it was rather successful,” he reflects. “I like that mix of R&B and reggae.”
“I have been in this business since I was 19 years old making reggae music for the world. It’s been 36 years, going on 37 years,” Banton says. “I just [want to] lift up the name of the true and living creator and say ‘Hi’ and greetings and ‘I love you’ to all the good people who come out to see Buju Banton and have been supporting me throughout my struggles.”
Find the Overcomer Tour dates below.
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- Aug. 23 — Ft. Lauderdale, FL — Amerant Bank Arena
- Aug. 25 — Tampa, FL — Amalie Arena
- Aug. 27 — Washington, DC — Capital One Arena
- Aug. 30 — Boston, MA — TD Garden
- Sept. 1 — Philadelphia, PA — Wells Fargo Center
- Sept. 6 — Hartford, CT — XL Center
- Sept. 8 — Atlanta, GA — State Farm Arena
- Sept. 12 — Houston, TX — Toyota Center
- Sept. 13 — Dallas, TX — American Airlines Center
- Sept. 15 — Phoenix, AZ — Footprint Center
- Sept. 18 — Inglewood, CA — Intuit Dome
- Sept. 23 — San Jose, CA — SAP Center
- Sept. 29 — Chicago, IL — Allstate Arena
- Nov. 17 — Brooklyn, NY — Barclays Center
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