André 3000 to Take His Flute on the Road This Fall for New Blue Sun Headlining Tour

The former Outkast rapper and musician is embarking on a full North American tour this fall following the release of his 2023 flute-filled solo album, 'New Blue Sun'

By

Njera Perkins

Published on June 25, 2024 03:25PM EDT

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest AndrÃÂ© 3000 during Tuesday's January 23, 2024 show. — André 3000 performing during The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on January 23, 2024. Photo:
Scott Kowalchyk/CBS/Getty

André 3000 is heading out on a special flute tour this fall in support of his New Blue Sun album
The rapper and musician released his debut solo project in November
His upcoming tour will span cities across North America from September through mid-November

André 3000 is no longer a wandering soul playing his flute around the world — he’s officially taking his instrumental act on the road for a full headlining tour.

Less than a year after releasing his critically lauded solo album, New Blue Sun, the former Outkast rapper, 49, is heading out on a North American run this fall, he announced on Tuesday, June 25, along with dates.

From Sept. 19 to Nov. 14, the New Blue Sun - Live in Concert Tour will make stops in New Orleans, Houston, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Brooklyn, and more, where fans will be able to enjoy the mellow sounds of the musician’s flute and his accompanying band.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, June 28, at 10 a.m. local time.

Andre 3000 Full Headline Tour — André 3000 New Blue Sun - Live In Concert Tour Flyer.
Courtesy of Andre 3000

Following the release of his experimental flute album, which arrived on Nov. 17, 2023, André 3000 (real name André Lauren Benjamin) tested his new material on fans at the Atlanta Jazz Festival and Roots Picnic, plus a handful of intimate performances at New York City’s Blue Note Jazz Club earlier this year.

Last year, for GQ’s Man of the Year series, the “Ms. Jackson” rapper — who got his start as one-half of his culture-shifting hip-hop duo with Big Boi — told the publication that his surprising pivot to woodwind music wasn’t inspired by anything particularly profound.

“Why anything? Why did we record these albums before in my career?” he probed after years of fans begging for a solo rap project. “It is just kind of: Those are the things that came.”

The Speakerboxxx/The Love Below artist added that he did attempt to make a hip-hop album at some point, but the inspiration just didn’t hit.

“Even now people think, Oh, man, he’s just sitting on raps, or he’s just holding these raps hostage,” he continued. “I ain’t got no raps like that. It actually feels…sometimes it feels inauthentic for me to rap because I don’t have anything to talk about in that way. I’m 48 years old. And not to say that age is a thing that dictates what you rap about, but in a way it does.”

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest Andre 3000 during Thursday's February 8, 2024 show. — André 3000 appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on January 23, 2024.
Scott Kowalchyk/CBS/Getty

Back in January, André 3000 appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (with his flute in hand) to discuss his New Blue Sun album again, saying it was both “fun” and “scary” to share it with the world.

“‘Cause you’ve been living with it for like the whole time and then you just kind of… it’s like if you cook for friends,” he explained. “If you cook food, you know what it tastes like, your taste buds have been popping, and you serve it to them and look at their face to see, ‘Are your taste buds kind of like mine?’”

Speaking on his album’s “no bars” warning label, the “Hey Ya!” rapper said it seemed “fair” to give listeners a heads-up that New Blue Sun wouldn’t feature the signature rhymes that earned him nine Grammy awards. “I wouldn’t want people to buy something thinking there was going to be a thing,” said the “Life of the Party” rapper, “so I wanted to let people know as soon as possible and as loud as possible.”

See all dates for André 3000’s New Blue Sun - Live in Concert Tour below.

Sept. 19 - New Orleans, LA - Orpheum Theater

Sept. 21 - Dallas, TX - AT&T PAC - Winspear Opera House

Sept. 22 - Austin, TX - ACL Live at The Moody Theater

Sept. 25 - Houston, TX - The Hobby Center For The Performing Arts

Sept. 27 - Albuquerque, NM - Kiva Auditorium

Sept. 28 - Mesa, AZ - Mesa Arts Center

Oct. 1 - San Diego, CA - Humphreys By The Bay

Oct. 2 - Los Angeles, CA - The Greek Theatre

Oct. 4 - Santa Barbara, CA - Arlington Theatre

Oct. 5 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater

Oct. 9 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre