Come on baby, let's get away
Janet Jackson headlines huge World AIDS Day concert in Houston this December
Music icon and longtime AIDS activist Jackson performs at NRG Arena on December 1.
Attention, Rhythm Nation: Janet Jackson — or, Miss Jackson, if you’re nasty — is headed to Houston for a powerhouse performance. The five-time Grammy Award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is set to perform a full-length World AIDS Day Concert on December 1 at NRG Arena.
Tickets for the show, which are sure to go fast, go on sale at 2 pm Monday, October 16 at Ticketmaster online.
Two other stars will co-headline the World AIDS Day event. Longtime star choreographer, director, and producer Debbie Allen — who herself owns numerous Emmy, Grammy, and Golden Globe Awards — will serve as keynote speaker. Meanwhile, talented, Emmy Award-winning (and hunky) actor Blair Underwood will receive the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Lifetime Achievement Award to Emmy Award for his work as an activist.
Music queen Jackson hits Houston fresh off her successful North American Together Again tour — the highest grossing tour ever in her career. The tour name itself is meaningful; it takes its name from Jackson’s “Together Again” single. The 1997 hit was Jackson’s personal tribute to a friend she lost to AIDS, as well as AIDS victims worldwide and their families.
Her Houston show is in honor of AHF’s annual World AIDS Day event, which is meant to honor those lost to the devastating disease. World AIDS Day also shows support for those currently living with HIV/AIDS, and to emphasize the fight against HIV/AIDS is not over. As the largest nonprofit of its kind in the world, AHF provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 1.8 million patients across 45 countries across the globe.
As for Underwood, who rocketed to fame as a handsome star of the iconic series L.A. Law and became a mainstay in TV, film, and stage, the actor has worked as a tireless voice against HIV/AIDS for more than 30 years. He cofounded Artists for a New South Africa, an organization addressing the devastating impact HIV/AIDS has on the continent. In 2003, he joined fellow star Ashley Judd as a spokesperson for YouthAIDS. He is involved with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Blair Underwood Clinic in Washington, D.C., a city with the most HIV cases per capita in the U.S. and nearly three times the national rate.
A-listers have always been a part of AHF’s World AIDS Day legacy. Past performers include Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Diana Ross, and Mariah Carey. Its Lifetime Achievement Award honorees feature a who’s-who list of household names: Harry Belafonte, Debbie Allen, Senator Bernie Sanders, and posthumously to Princess Diana.
