Features
Stormzy Announces ‘Heavy Is The Head World Tour’ For 2020
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images – Stormzy at the BRIT Awards 2018
That night’s performance was a true show stopper.
Stormzy rounds off a huge 2019 with the announcement of his biggest tour yet, the “H.I.T.H. World Tour.” 55 shows spanning across Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, North America, UK, Ireland and Africa.
The tour kicks off in Dubai on Feb. 7 and concludes in Africa in October. The North American dates are: Fox Theater in Oakland, CA (May 26), The Novo in Los Angeles, CA (May 27), Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver, CO (May 29), Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta, GA (May 30), Théâtre Corona in Montreal, Canada (May 31), REBEL in Toronto, Canada (June 2), Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn, NY (June 4), Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia, PA (June 5), 9:30 Club in Washington, DC (June 6), Metro in Chicago, IL (June 9), House of Blues in Houston, TX (June 12) and House of Blues in Dallas, TX (June 13).
The tour will also see him make his solo debut at London’s O2 Arena for two nights, Sept. 3-4. Those will be Stormzy’s first solo shows in the English capital since his sold-out three-night residency at Brixton Academy in May 2017. 11 more arenas throughout the UK and Ireland are part of the routing, including 3Arena in Dublin, The SSE Hydro in Scotland, Utilita Arena in Newcastle, and Manchester Arena.
Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Stormzy – Stormzy at the O2 Academy Brixton
The rapper sold out three nights at the iconic London venue in 2017, the year his debut album “Gang Signs & Prayer” was released
The following shows at Rocking the Daisies Festival in Cape Town (Oct. 3), The City Festival in Johannesburg (Oct. 4), both in South Africa, Untamed Empire in Accra, the capital of Stormzy’s homeland Ghana (Oct. 9) and at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria (Oct. 10) will mark Stormzy’s first visit to Africa while on tour.
All “H.I.T.H. World Tour” dates below.
The “H.I.T.H. World Tour” tour is named after Stormzy’s second album, Heavy Is The Head, which is scheduled to drop Dec. 13 on #Merky Records. The latest single, “Own It,” premiered last week, featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy.
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images – BRIT Awards 2017
Ed Sheeran and Stormzy perform on stage at The O2 Arena in London, England, on Feb. 22, 2017. Now, they’re on a single together.
Other features on Heavy Is The Head include Aitch, Headie One, H.E.R., Tiana Major9 and YEBBA with production from Fred Gibson, Fraser T Smith, T-Minus and others.
The album’s first single, “Vossi Bop,” his first release since 2017, broke the record for the biggest week one streams for a British Rapper, with streams accumulating to over 12.7 million. Combined sales of 94,495 earnt Stormzy his first UK number one single.
Two more singles followed, “Crown” and “Wiley Flow,” where he pays homage to fellow MC and Pollstar Hotstar Wiley.
Stormzy has been on a remarkable rise since his platinum-selling number one debut album Gang Signs & Prayer, released in February 2017. He took home two BRIT Awards in 2018 for Best Male Solo Artist and Best Album, as well as closing the ceremony with a powerful live performance.
2018 also saw the launch of Stormzy’s record label, #Merky Records, an imprint of Atlantic Records U.K, #Merky Books, an imprint formed in collaboration with Penguin Random House U.K., on which he released his first book, “Rise Up: The Story So Far,” as well as the launch of “The Stormzy Scholarship,” which funds the study of two black students each year.
He became the first British rapper to headline Glastonbury this year, taking the opportunity to highlight a wealth of social issues, including the injustice of young black children being criminalised in a biased justice system.
Jim Dyson/Getty Images – Stormzy on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury 2019
He is the first British rapper to headline the iconic festival
Shortly after, he headed to Ibiza for his annual #Merky Festival – a two-day event featuring performances of some of the U.K.’s most in-demand artists. This year the festival sold-out in 48 hours.
According to Stormzy’s team, it marked the first time in Ibiza history for a ticketed event to have all tickets sold off of the island, prior to the event.
Joseph Okpako/WireImage – Stormzy at Wireless Festival 2018
The performance took place on day two, July 7, 2018, at Finsbury Park in London, England
“H.I.T.H. World Tour” dates:
Feb. 7 Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Feb. 10 – Ancienne Belgique – Brussels, Belgium
Feb. 11 – Ancienne Belgique – Brussels, Belgium
Feb. 20 – Columbiahalle – Berlin, Germany
Feb. 21 – Royal Arena – Copenhagen, Denmark
Feb. 22 – AFAS Live – Amsterdam, Netherlands
Feb. 24 – Docks Hamburg – Hamburg, Germany
Feb. 25 – Sentrum Scene – Oslo, Norway
Feb. 26 – Annexet – Stockholm, Sweden
Feb. 28 – Carlswerk Victoria – Cologne, Germany
Feb. 29 – LE TRIANON – Paris, France
March 1 – Altes Postlager – Mainz, Germany
March 3 – Stodola – Warsaw, Poland
March 4 – Roxy – Prague, Czech Republic
March 5 – X-TRA – Zürich, Switzerland
March 24 – Blitz – Akasaka, Japan
March 27 – Arkham – Shanghai, China
March 28 – Sónar Hong Kong – Hong Kong, China
March 29 – MUV Hall – Seoul, Republic Of Korea
May 1 – TSB Bank Arena – Wellington, New Zealand
May 2 – The Trusts Stadium – Auckland, New Zealand
May 6 – HBF Stadium – Perth, WA, Australia
May 9 – Horden Pavillion – Sydney, NSW, Australia
May 13 – A.E.C. Theatre – Adelaide, SA, Australia
May 14 – Melbourne Arena – Melbourne, VIC, Australia
May 16 – Riverstage Brisbane – Brisbane, QLD, Australia
May 26 – Fox Theater – Oakland, CA, US
May 27 – The Novo – Los Angeles, CA, US
May 29 – Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom – Denver, CO, US
May 30 – Buckhead Theatre – Atlanta, GA, US
May 31 – Théâtre Corona – Montreal, QC, Canada
June 2 – REBEL – Toronto, ON, Canada
June 4 – Brooklyn Steel – Brooklyn, NY, US
June 5 – Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA, US
June 6 – 9:30 Club – Washington, DC, US
June 9 – Metro – Chicago, IL, US
June 12 – House of Blues – Houston, TX, US
June 13 – House of Blues – Dallas, TX, US
Sept. 3 – The O2 – London, UK
Sept. 4 – The O2 – London, UK
Sept. 8 – 3Arena – Dublin, Ireland
Sept. 10 – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow, UK
Sept. 11 – Utilita Arena – Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
Sept. 12 – First Direct Arena – Leeds, UK
Sept. 13 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool, UK
Sept. 16 – FlyDSA Arena – Sheffield, UK
Sept. 17 – Manchester Arena – Manchester, UK
Sept. 18 – Motorpoint Arena Nottingham – Nottingham, UK
Sept. 19 – Arena Birmingham – Birmingham, UK
Sept. 21 – Motorpoint Arena Cardiff – Wales, UK
Sept. 22 – Bournemouth International Centre – Bournemouth, UK
Oct. 3 – Rocking the Daisies Festival – Cape Town, South Africa
Oct. 4 – In The City Festival – Johannesburg, South Africa
Oct. 9 – Untamed Empire – Accra, Ghana
Oct. 10 – Federal Palace Hotel – Lagos, Nigeria