The My Love Is Your Love World Tour (advertised as the World Tour 1999) was the eighth concert tour by American singer Whitney Houston. The tour was in support of her fourth album, My Love Is Your Love (1998). Beginning in the summer of 1999, the tour played over 60 shows in Europe and North America. The tour marked Houston's final concert appearances in North America.
Background After My Love is Your Love—Houston's first studio album in eight years—was released, the singer embarked on her first world tour since 1994 to promote it. For the North American leg of the tour, Houston turned down most arena dates in favor of theaters because she wanted "to do something where people can feel [her] and [she] can feel them."1999: Nippy News Release Articles Performing in theaters allowed Houston's shows to have a jam-session atmosphere. Since theaters have lower capacities than arenas, Houston played in most North American cities for two nights each.
Houston signed a deal with Dolce & Gabbana to design all of her clothes for the tour. This deal gave Houston a more hip and contemporary look to match her music; this look contrasted with her previous tours. Houston first showcased her new wardrobe on The Oprah Winfrey Show prior to the tour opener in Chicago.
In July, Houston made a surprise appearance at the 13th Annual New York City Lesbian and Gay Pride Dance. At the event, the singer gave a rare performance of the popular remixes to "It's Not Right But It's OK" and "Heartbreak Hotel".Whitney Houston Surprises Crowd At Gay-Lesbian Pride Event MTV News. June 28, 1999
Controversy arose during the North American leg of the tour. There were reports of strange and erratic behavior behind the scenes. Houston cancelled some concert dates, including two shows in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey. The singer pulled out of her San Francisco show at the Concord Pavilion 15 minutes before it was scheduled to begin; the city demanded $100,000 in compensation after public outcry. Houston blamed all the cancellations on an ongoing throat ailment. Still, these actions would further spark tabloid rumors of drug use.Entertainment: News in Brief. BBC News. August 26, 1999.
The tour was successful. The concerts featured Houston's highest ticket prices. With many shows, Houston commanded up to $150 for a ticket, making her just one of a few artists to break the $100-per-ticket barrier.Farber, Jim. "Summer concert tours, paved with profits and with potholes". Buffalo News. August 23, 1999. Page A7
The tour was an even bigger success in Europe. It was the highest grossing European arena concert tour of the year, playing to almost half a million people. Every date was sold out in advance. As a result, the tour was extended to November due to high demand.Whitney Houston World Tour '99 Becomes Europe's Highest Grossing Arena ever. Business Wire. October 19, 1999.
During the European leg of the tour, DoRo Productions filmed and produced a documentary of the tour: Whitney – Close Up.Doro Films Live Concert documentaries – Whitney: Close Up The documentary showcased behind-the-scenes footage, rehearsals and live performances throughout Europe.Doro Films music documentaries-Whitney-Close Up .www.dorofilms.comWhitney – Close Up documentary movie.www.facebook.com-whitneyhouston-media Close Up was originally set to be aired as a TV special in early 2000 following the release of Whitney: The Greatest Hits, but did not air at the time. Some footage from Close Up was also used in the documentary Whitney: Can I Be Me.
A similar but different documentary, also titled Close Up was broadcast on February 11, 2018, on the German TV channel ServusTV.Zum sechsten Todestag: ServusTV sendet Porträt über Whitney Houston. InfoDigital. January 4, 2018
Opening acts 112 Amanda Marshall
Set list
Notes "My Love Is Your Love" and "Step by Step" were performed as encores in Chicago, replacing "It's Not Right But It's Okay" performed earlier in the show. "Abraham, Martin and John" was performed in Denver on July 26, and Los Angeles on July 30, as a tribute to the late John F. Kennedy Jr. September 18: Houston performed "You'll Never Stand Alone" in London, and "All at Once", on October 12, in Rotterdam. "Jesus Loves Me" and "Amazing Grace" was performed at select dates in Europe. October 18: "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin was performed in Frankfurt, and a medley of Dionne Warwick's "Walk On By" and "Alfie" was performed in Oberhausen on October 30. November 2: in Antwerp, Houston performed "Greatest Love of All", and on November 8, in London a performance of "Home". September 24: in Cologne, Houston performed a snippet of “You Were Loved” from her soundtrack album The Preacher's Wife
Shows + List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue Date City Country Venue Attendance Revenue North AmericaSources for dates in North America:North America Boxscore data:June 22, 1999ChicagoUnited StatesArie Crown Theaterrowspan=2 rowspan=2 June 23, 1999June 25, 1999DetroitFox Theatre 9,575 / 9,575 $752,653June 26, 1999June 29, 1999TorontoCanadaMolson Amphitheatrerowspan=4 rowspan=4 June 30, 1999Cuyahoga FallsUnited StatesBlossom Music CenterJuly 2, 1999Saratoga SpringsSaratoga Performing Arts CenterJuly 5, 1999Washington, D.C.DAR Constitution HallJuly 8, 1999BostonWang Theatre 7,302 / 7,370 $553,043July 9, 1999July 11, 1999WallingfordSNET Oakdale Theatre July 14, 1999New York CityThe Theater at Madison Square Garden 10,714 / 10,866 $802,323July 15, 1999July 17, 1999PhiladelphiaMann Music Center July 18, 1999University ParkBryce Jordan Center5,831 / 10,400$260,305July 20, 1999AtlantaFox Theatrerowspan="3" rowspan="3" July 21, 1999July 26, 1999Greenwood VillageFiddler's Green AmphitheatreJuly 29, 1999Los AngelesUniversal Amphitheatre 12,294 / 12,378 $873,140July 30, 1999 EuropeSources for dates in Europe:August 22, 1999SopotPolandOpera Leśna rowspan=46 rowspan=46 August 25, 1999VechtaGermanyWesterheide August 27, 1999CoburgCoburger SchloßplatzAugust 28, 1999MannheimMannheimer Schloss EhrenhofAugust 30, 1999ViennaAustriaWiener StadthalleSeptember 1, 1999ZürichSwitzerlandHallenstadionSeptember 2, 1999MunichGermanyOpen-Air TheatronSeptember 4, 1999HamburgDerby-Park Klein FlottbekSeptember 5, 1999BerlinWaldbühneSeptember 7, 1999RotterdamNetherlandsRotterdam Ahoy SportpaleisSeptember 9, 1999SheffieldEnglandSheffield ArenaSeptember 11, 1999BirminghamNEC ArenaSeptember 12, 1999September 15, 1999LondonWembley ArenaSeptember 16, 1999September 18, 1999September 21, 1999ParisFrancePalais Omnisports de Paris-BercySeptember 22, 1999StuttgartGermanyHanns-Martin-Schleyer-HalleSeptember 24, 1999CologneKölnarenaSeptember 25, 1999AntwerpBelgiumSportpaleisSeptember 27, 1999MilanItalyFilaForumSeptember 28, 1999CologneGermanyKölnarenaOctober 1, 1999GothenburgSwedenScandinaviumOctober 2, 1999StockholmStockholm Globe ArenaOctober 4, 1999HelsinkiFinlandHartwall AreenaOctober 5, 1999October 6, 1999MoscowRussiaState Kremlin PalaceOctober 7, 1999October 9, 1999KyivUkrainePalace of SportsOctober 10, 1999StuttgartGermanyHanns-Martin-Schleyer-HalleOctober 12, 1999RotterdamNetherlandsRotterdam Ahoy SportpaleisOctober 13, 1999October 15, 1999ZürichSwitzerlandHallenstadionOctober 18, 1999FrankfurtGermanyFesthalle FrankfurtOctober 20, 1999MilanItalyFilaForumOctober 22, 1999ViennaAustriaWiener StadthalleOctober 23, 1999October 27, 1999LeipzigGermanyLeipziger Messehallen 7October 28, 1999MunichOlympiahalleOctober 30, 1999OberhausenArena OberhausenOctober 31, 1999November 2, 1999AntwerpBelgiumSportpaleisNovember 3, 1999KielGermanyOstseehalleNovember 5, 1999StuttgartHanns-Martin-Schleyer-HalleNovember 7, 1999BirminghamEnglandNEC ArenaNovember 8, 1999LondonWembley Arena
Festivals and other miscellaneous performances This concert is a part of the "Sopot International Song Festival" This concert is a part of "Stoppelmarkt" This concert is a part of the "Open-Air-Wochenende"
Cancellations and rescheduled shows July 3, 1999Newark, New JerseyPrudential HallCancelledJuly 5, 1999Washington, D.C.DAR Constitution HallCancelledJuly 23, 1999Memphis, TennesseeMid-South ColiseumCancelledJuly 24, 1999St. Louis, MissouriFox TheatreCancelledAugust 1, 1999Concord, CaliforniaConcord PavilionCancelledSeptember 28, 1999Prague, Czech RepublicSportovní halaCancelled
Personnel Band Musical director / Drums – Michael Baker Bass guitar – Alex Evans Keyboards – Jetro Da Silva Percussion – Taku Hirano Guitar – John "Jubu" Smith Piano – Myron McKinley Background vocalists – Gary Houston, Valerie Pinkston, Sharlotte Gibson, Cindy Mizelle
Dancers Carolyn Brown, Kyndra Reevey, Merylin Mitchell, Joyce Vanhook
Tour management Manager – Tony Bulluck
Security Director of security – Alan Jacobs
Broadcasting and recordings Houston's concert on August 22, in Sopot, Poland was televised on Germany, United Kingdom and Poland cable TV. Live performances of "I Learned From the Best" was televised during UNCF benefit telethon broadcast, and "It's Not Right But Its Okay" performance was aired on the MTV series All Access Live.
References
External links The My Love Is Your Love World Tour at Houston's official website