Christina Aguilera Announces 'Bionic' Summer Tour

Christina Aguilera will hit the road in support of her June album Bionic this summer on a 20-date tour of outdoor theaters and arenas. The trek — which features opener Leona Lewis — kicks off July 15th in Uncasville, Connecticut, and works its way west, concluding August 19th in Irvine, California.

Aguilera's last big outing came in 2006, when she launched her big-top themed Back to Basics tour, and if her new "Not Myself Tonight" video is any indication, her upcoming show could include more dancing from the 29-year-old singer. She recently told MTV the sexy clip's inspiration came from her role in the fall film Burlesque, in which she stars as a dancer alongside Cher. "Dancing always came sort of secondary to me. Vocals were my first love and where my heart really was," she said, but added doing the film gave her chances to "[move] my body in ways that were, I feel, never as precise before."

As an extra incentive to see Aguilera live, fans who purchase tickets to any of the shows prior to June 4th will receive a free digital download of Bionic on June 7th, one day before the album is officially released stateside. Tickets go on sale to the public through Live Nation starting May 21st, while Citi cardholders get first shot at seats with a presale on May 19th.

Aguilera has also been confirmed to perform at the MTV Movie Awards on June 6th, and her episode of VH1's Storytellers airs June 13th.

Christina Aguilera's Bionic Tour:

July 15 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
July 17 - Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
July 18 - Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
July 20 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
July 22 - Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
July 24 - Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 25 - Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
July 28 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
July 30 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 31 - Boston, MA @ Comcast Center
Aug. 3 - Pittsburgh, PA @ First Niagara Pavilion
Aug. 5 - Atlanta, GA @ Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood
Aug. 7 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
Aug. 8 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
Aug. 10 - Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center
Aug. 12 - Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Aug. 14 - Phoenix, AZ @ US Airways Center
Aug. 15 - San Diego, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
Aug. 18 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
Aug. 19 - Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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