In Pictures: Taylor Swift to Janet Jackson, the biggest pop tours this summer

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Pop idol Taylor Swift is making waves during the US leg of her ongoing Eras Tour. The mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor, invited the singer to take over her responsibilities for a day. Glendale in Arizona renamed itself 'Swift City' for a couple of days in honour of the singer. We take a look at other singers who are criss-crossing the globe. Image Credit: Instagram\taylorswift

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Janet Jackson has spent a half-century in the spotlight, but her star hasn't dimmed. Her sugary voice floats above dance beats that still feel young, and her set lists regularly stretch to 40 songs. Jackson knows that she reached diva status long ago; she proved as much when she started a recent performance with a video montage titled '50 Years ... Of Me'. But her most recent release, a remastered deluxe edition of 'The Velvet Rope', which dropped in 1997 after three upbeat blockbuster records, explores the darker side of her early stardom: What is it like to have the world try to figure you out before you know who you are? In the age of social media, her 25-year-old questions feel, for better or worse, new again. But this time, Jackson knows exactly who she is. Her tour continues until June 21 at various venues in US. Image Credit: AP

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Pressurised by the pandemic and a hiatus, it's clear that the trio is refreshed when it finally explodes on anthemic choruses in 'Running Out of Time' and 'Thick Skull', singer Hayley Williams's commanding vocals soaring. She released two intimate solo albums during her time away from Paramore with collaborators such as boygenius, but it's on 'This Is Why' that she finally stretches out again, erupting with an energy that has been building for years. Paramore is joined on the back half of this tour by the post-punk band Linda Lindas, whose all-female members are between 12 and 18 years old. Their tour continues at various venues until August 2. Image Credit: Facebook\Paramore

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For most, time ebbed during the pandemic — but not for Alicia Keys, who spent the lockdown promoting an autobiography, launching a skin-care line, starring in a YouTube docuseries, running an online meditation program and writing a graphic novel. She also released two albums: 'Alicia' (2020) and 'Keys' (2021). The 'Girl on Fire' singer can't be kept down. Keys, a 15-time Grammy winner, has spent much of her time on the road since last June, when she kicked off her first global tour in a decade. She'll hit 19 countries and three continents before she wraps the U.S. leg of the tour in early August. Image Credit: AP

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As an artist who stands alone at the top, Beyonce doesn't just govern — she reigns. That's why her opening night in Stockholm felt less like a concert and more like a royal ball. 'Queen Bey' is back on her throne after a bewildering Grammys night where she made headlines for garnering the most awards of any artist ever, but lost the coveted album of the year prize to Harry Styles. This is her first tour in seven years (unless you count couch rewatches of her Netflix concert film 'Homecoming'), in promotion of her effervescent album 'Renaissance', which was heralded like royalty last year. Tour dates: July 12-September 27. Image Credit: AP

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It has been 10 years since the release of 'Acid Rap', the breakthrough mixtape meditation on youth that skyrocketed Chance the Rapper to fame. The album represented a destructive time in his life - 'If I hadn't had my spirit tugged on, literally, and a calling to become a better version of myself, then I would've died...," he told Complex. But fans regard 'Acid Rap' as one of his best works, perhaps because there's something sinfully pleasing about his depiction of destruction, rapped with an indelible voice that teeters on the edge of a joke. His anniversary tour, marking the release of a deluxe edition of 'Acid Rap', makes only three stops, in hometown Chicago (August 19), New York (August 26) and Los Angeles (September 21). Image Credit: AP

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For a rapper as record breakingly relevant as Lil Baby, it feels impossible that this headlining tour is only his second (or third, if you count a co-headlining spot with Chris Brown). Even his tour announcement video, posted to Instagram in April, has nearly 13 million views. It features the cast of industry favorites, including GloRilla, Gloss Up and Rylo Rodriguez, who will open for Lil Baby on a tour honoring his Atlanta-grown, drawl-wrapped, rapid-fire lyrics as much as his meteoric rise to stardom. Tour dates: July 26-September 22 across different venues in US. Image Credit: AP

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The title of Maggie Rogers's 2022 album, 'Surrender', was also the name of her Harvard Divinity School thesis last year. Studying what Rogers describes as "spirituality of public gatherings and the ethics of power in pop culture" has served her well, as evidenced by the tracks' synth-slathered rumination on fame. "Took me all this long to figure out/ It's not worth it if I can't touch the ground," she considers on the ballad "Horses." Rogers wraps a summer of shows with a headlining spot at Merriweather Post Pavilion's All Things Go festival in October alongside Lana Del Ray, boygenius and Carly Rae Jepsen. Tour dates: July 24-August 18 at various venues in US. Image Credit: Shutterstock

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In Pictures: Taylor Swift to Janet Jackson, the biggest pop tours this summer

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