Nicki Minaj to play UBS Arena in October as 'Pink Friday' tour expands
"Super Freaky Girl" Nicki Minaj will close the newly announced North American leg of her "Pink Friday 2" world tour at UBS Arena in Elmont on Oct. 11.
General-public tickets for the concert go on sale 9 a.m. Friday at NickiMinajOfficial.com. As part of the same tour, Minaj also will play Madison Square Garden on Sept. 7.
“We did it, Barbz,” the hip-hop star, 41, addressed her fans on social media a few days before the official announcement Wednesday of the 22 new dates. “The first US leg of the #PinkFriday2 #GAGCITY TOUR was SO SUCCESSFUL, I was offered a 2nd leg beginning in SEPTEMBER … Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. God is good. Don’t you ever give up. You got this. [L]et’s go!!!!!!!”
The 12-time Grammy Award nominee — born Onika Maraj in the Caribbean island nation Trinidad and Tobago, was raised in Jamaica, Queens, and graduated from Manhattan’s LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts — rose from mixtape star in the 2000s to massive success through albums including her debut, “Pink Friday” (2010), through “The Pinkprint” (2014), “Queen” (2018) and others. While only her most recent, last year’s “Pink Friday 2,” has gone platinum, she has amassed huge successes with 23 top 10 singles, including three No. 1 hits.
The new tour leg announcement comes on the heels of her drug-related arrest in Amsterdam Saturday that caused the postponement of that night’s scheduled show in Manchester, England.
Minaj took and livestreamed a nearly 3 ½-minute video during the arrest, reposted by a fan site. In it, she repeatedly asks police for the address of the precinct to which they are taking her in a police van. They do not give it. She notes she is being taken without an attorney having been notified, and they assure her she will have the opportunity to contact one. Minaj appears to be alone, with no entourage or other traveling companions.
The Netherlands Royal Military Police tweeted that day, per a Google translation, “We have just released a 41-year-old American woman who we arrested this afternoon at Schiphol [Airport] on suspicion of exporting soft drugs. After consultation with the Public Prosecution Service, the suspect was fined and can continue her journey."
The Netherlands defines “soft drugs” as “cannabis products (hash and marijuana) and sleeping pills and sedatives such as Valium and Seresta.” The government does not “prosecute members of the public for possession of small quantities of soft drugs. … no more than 5 grams of cannabis (marijuana or hash); no more than 5 cannabis plants.”
BBC News said the fine was 350 euro, or about $380.
Minaj later tweeted in a post that appears to have been removed but was reposted by a fan site, “After sitting in a jail cell for 5-6 hours my plane still didn't take off for another 20 mins once I boarded.” While the concert venue, Co-op Live, was willing to remain open past its 11 p.m. closing, she wrote, she was unable to arrive in time.
The following day she announced a rescheduled date of June 3, adding, “I apologize for all the inconvenience this has caused. I really hope you can make the … show. It’ll be really special.” A separate tweet promised Manchester fans “an added surprise bonus for you guys.”
She apologized in a tweet that appears to be have been removed, reported BBC News: "Please please please accept my deepest & most sincere apologies. They sure did know exactly how to hurt me today but this too, shall pass.”
Minaj played her May 26 show in Birmingham, England, as scheduled.
