Justin Timberlake

Lore & Background

The partnership began when Timberlake released "Suit & Tie" on January 14, 2013, featuring Jay-Z, as the lead single from *The 20/20 Experience*. Before the 2013 Grammy Awards, Ryan Seacrest teased Timberlake about a possible joint tour. Timberlake responded, "We are still putting it together, but it's gonna be a lot of fun. I don't know how much I should say." At the Grammys, Jay-Z joined Timberlake on stage to perform "Suit & Tie." Rumors of a stadium tour grew after Jay-Z posted a series of venues on his Life + Times blog with the note "#LegendsOfSummer this week." The tour was officially announced on February 22, 2013, with North American dates revealed. On July 14, 2013, Timberlake and Jay-Z performed at the Olympic Park in London as part of the Wireless Festival for a "special preview" of the tour.

In Their Own Story

At the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Billboard's Karen Bliss observed "no one-upmanship, just camaraderie, not competition, two guys that work well together." At Fenway Park, James Reed of *The Boston Globe* noted the show was "nearly two and a half hours, it was a tightly choreographed show, but there was no shortage of spectacle or unbridled joy." At Yankee Stadium, Nick Catucci of *Entertainment Weekly* said, "the cheery, elastic Timberlake is an excellently goofy foil to Jay's forbidding cool — if these two were superheroes instead of mere legends, Timberlake would be Robin to Jay Z's Batman." At the Rose Bowl, Rebecca Ford of *The Hollywood Reporter* noted that although they had differing performance styles, both were "larger-than-life performers even in that massive a venue." At Sun Life Stadium, *The Miami Herald* reported the show ran "two and a half hours with nearly 40 songs" and felt "exceptionally well-paced" with "seamless transitions between collaborations and solo efforts."

Reader's Guide

Timberlake's role on the Legends of the Summer tour was as a co-headliner, not a supporting act. The tour supported his album *The 20/20 Experience* alongside Jay-Z's *Magna Carta Holy Grail*. The setlist included both solo efforts and collaborations, with critics noting the smooth pacing between the two artists' material. At BC Place, Michael Mann of *The Georgia Straight* described a "two-hour-and-15-minute-long hit parade" on a "four-storey-high stage, which featured massive LED screens and 18 or so backup performers." At Soldier Field, Greg Kot of the *Chicago Tribune* said "the contrast between the eager-to-please R&B entertainer and the imperious hip-hop godfather couldn't have been more stark." At the Rose Bowl, Stephanie Cary of the *Los Angeles Daily News* noted, "Neither star deviated much from the music, only stopping a few times to address the audience, including Timberlake announcing it was the best crowd they've had so far on the tour."

Did You Know?

• Timberlake and Jay-Z performed to 622,559 fans across two countries during the Legends of the Summer tour.
• The tour grossed US$75.3 million (US$101.64 million in 2024 dollars) and was the fifteenth highest-grossing tour of 2013.
• All 14 dates of the tour were sold out.
• The tour began on July 17, 2013, in Toronto and concluded on August 16, 2013, in Miami Gardens.
• On July 14, 2013, Timberlake and Jay-Z performed a 'special preview' of the tour at the Olympic Park in London as part of the Wireless Festival.