NEW YORK, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Atlantic Records) - Blue Star Entertainment International/Atlantic recording group
Pretty Ricky has announced details of their upcoming U.S. concert tour. The BET Presents "Late Night Special Tour" will see the Florida-based foursome performing tracks from their No 1 album, "LATE NIGHT SPECIAL."
The cross-country tour is slated to take off on March 23rd with a home state show in Clearwater, Florida at Ruth Eckerd Hall (see itinerary below). The roadshow will then criss-cross America through a May 12th finale at the Reliant Arena in Houston. The BET Presents "Late Night Special Tour" dates have a unique twist. Every concertgoer who brings a Pretty Ricky CD to the show will have the opportunity to have it autographed after the show, when the group will stay until each and every CD has been signed.
Several dates on the tour were routed with the help of the latest live performance phenomenon, Eventful Demand, an online service which allows fans to determine a tour's stops by creating grass-roots campaigns to "Demand" that their favorite performers come to their town. Fans were able to demand Pretty Ricky by visiting the group's MySpace (www.myspace.com/prettyricky) and Eventful (www.eventful.com/prettyricky) pages. The top-demanded cities so far have been Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, and Chicago.
Pretty Ricky will celebrate the "Late Night Special Tour" with an exciting contest in each market on the schedule. The "Get On The Hotline With Pretty Ricky" sweepstakes will see local radio stations awarding one winner and three friends the greatest fan experience ever. After receiving a personal phone call from Pretty Ricky themselves, prizewinners will take a limo to the venue for an exclusive soundcheck party with the group. As if all that weren't enough, the lucky fan will receive exclusive VIP seating on a special on-stage couch for themselves and their guests.
What's more, the "Push It For Pretty Ricky" contest is currently underway at www.youtube.com/group/prettyrickycontest. Fans are invited to create their own dance moves to Pretty Ricky's new single, "Push It Baby," with winners receiving a personal phone call from Pretty Ricky, a Sony MiniDV Camcorder, and a prop from the recent "Push It Baby" video shoot. Contest details, info, and entry forms can be found at https://feature.atlrec.com/contests/prettyricky/youtube.
Released January 23rd, "LATE NIGHT SPECIAL" made an explosive chart debut in the No 1 spot on both the Billboard 200 and "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" charts. "On The Hotline," the first single/video from "LATE NIGHT SPECIAL," is currently a top 15 crossover hit on Billboard's "Hot 100." The track is standing tall at No 2 with-a-bullet at Urban radio outlets, as well as coming in at No 4 with-a-bullet on the Rhythmic airplay charts. In addition, the album's second single, "Push It Baby," will impact at multi-format outlets nationwide March 12.
The "On The Hotline" companion video is also proving an across-the-board smash, spending several days at No 1 on BET's hugely popular "106 & Park." Now in "Heavy" rotation, the clip stands as a top 3 countdown favorite.
Pretty Ricky has also been highly visible on MTV, including a recent visit to MTV's "Total Request Live," where the "On The Hotline" video quickly entered the countdown's top 10. The clip is in play throughout the MTV network, including "Blazin'" rotation at MTV Jams, "Power" rotation at MTV Hits, and "Sucker Free Latino" rotation at MTV Tr3s.
In other news, Pretty Ricky recently made its late night television debut, performing "On The Hotline" and "Push It" on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Further, the group starred on the March cover of Black Beat magazine, on newsstands now.
"On The Hotline" is a massive ringtone hit, currently standing at No 3 on Nielsen Ringscan's "Top 200 Mastertones" chart with sales of over 656,000. Pretty Ricky is also hugely popular online, with nearly 500,000 friends registered on their MySpace page, placing them in the top 5 of MySpace's "Top Artists." At YouTube, the group's "Pretty Ricky TV" - which features a variety of exclusive videos - is currently atop the "Most Viewed Musicians" ranking.
Written and produced almost entirely by Pretty Ricky and the exclusive production team Music Royale Productions, "LATE NIGHT SPECIAL" seems destined to surpass the group's 2005 blockbuster debut album, "BLUESTARS." Cuts like "Push It," "On the Hotline," and the super-sexy ballads "Love Like Honey" & "Make It Like It Was" are guaranteed to become fan favorites, marking a huge leap forward while still bearing that signature Pretty Ricky sound.
The group exploded onto the Florida music scene in late 2004, when "Grind With Me" became the most requested song in the history of Miami radio station Power 96. Subsequently signed to Atlantic by Chairman/CEO Craig Kallman, the group quickly exploded into a national sensation.
Under the tutelage of their father, Joe "Bluestar" Smith, Pretty Ricky has been performing throughout Florida and the southeast since 1997, earning acclaim for their unique charismatic style and sensational stage presence.
In 2002, Pretty Ricky hit radio success with their song "Flossin'," which began buzzing on Power 96. The brothers continued grinding and hustling - writing songs, building relationships with fans, and performing every chance they get. During this time they opened for a wide array of heavyweights, including Lil Jon, Trick Daddy, Trina, Run DMC, and fellow Miami comrade Pitbull.
In late 2006, Pretty Ricky introduced fans to "LATE NIGHT SPECIAL" with show-stealing performances on the "Scream Tour 5: Ruff & Ready, Young & Sexy." The BET-sponsored trek saw Pretty Ricky commanding arena stages across America with some of R&B and hip-hop's hottest new stars, including Omarion, Ne-Yo, Mario, and Yung Joc.
PRETTY RICKY "LATE NIGHT SPECIAL TOUR" 2007
MARCH
21 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
23 Orlando, FL House of Blues
26 Atlanta, GA Center Stage Theater
27 Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
29 Greensboro, NC N Club
30 Norfolk, VA The NorVa Theater
31 Washington, DC DAR Constitution Hall
APRIL
5 Boston, MA The Palladium
6 Providence, RI Lupo's
7 New York, NY Roseland
8 Philadelphia, PA The Electric Factory
9 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
10 Columbus, OH LC Pavilion
11 Cincinatti, OH Bogart's
14 Memphis, TN Desoto Civic Center
19 Tulsa, OK Expo Square
20 Wichita, KS Cotillion
21 Oklahoma City, OK Washington Park
22 Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom
25 Phoenix, AZ Marquee
26 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
27 Hanford, CA Hanford Civic Auditorium
28 Los Angeles, CA House of Blues
MAY
4 San Jose, CA San Jose State University
11 Kileen, TX Fort Hood
12 Houston, TX Reliant Arena
