subject: M.i.a. Tickets - M.i.a. Continues To Make Headlines [print this page] Ever since she emerged onto the music scene with the infectious hit "Paper Planes," M.I.A. (real name Maya Arulpragasam) has made no apologies for having an opinion and expressing it rather loudly! The 34-year-old Sri Lanka native recently released her third album, // / Y /, but Billboard.com reports that she has everyone talking for another reason.
In a recent interview with Time Out London, M.I.A. takes issue with none other than the "Queen of Media" herself, Oprah Winfrey, claiming that Oprah gave her the "cold shoulder" at the Metropolitan Costume Institute Gala in May. M.I.A. also has a bone to pick with Oprah for praising Lady Gaga, pointing out that the equally-shocking star grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and thus didn't have it very hard growing up.
M.I.A.'s latest tirade comes on the heels of the singer's snafu at the recent HARD Festival, held at Governor's Island in New York on July 24. Technical issues drowned out M.I.A.'s vocals during her set despite flawless performances from Rye Rye, Sleigh Bells and Die Antwood. As a result of the technical problem, M.I.A. has promised fans that she will perform a free live show in New York to make up for her HARD Festival gig, reports Billboard.com. M.I.A. took to her Twitter account to announce the free show on July 26 in an expletive-laced tweet that ended with her saying she would admit fans not at HARD "if you do me a lil dance."
Although M.I.A. has yet to reveal the date for her free NYC show, she does have a few concerts on the calendar. M.I.A. will begin a European trek across the pond in London on Aug. 1 but will return to the States for a few scattered gigs beginning in September. Fans can also get M.I.A. tickets to see her perform at this year's Austin City Limits Festival, to be held in Austin, Texas' Zilker Park Oct. 8-11.
This year's ACL will feature headliners Phish, the Strokes, Muse and the Eagles headlining. M.I.A. will perform on the second day of ACL 2010, while other performers slated to play at the yearly festival include Vampire Weekend, Spoon, the Black Keys, Broken Bells, Miike Snow, LCD Soundsystem, the Gaslight Anthem, Cage the Elephant, Norah Jones, Flaming Lips, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and many more.
M.I.A. will likely announce more tour dates in support of // / Y / in the near future, as she recently told Billboard.com that touring will play a more key role in the promotion of the album than it did for her 2005 debut Arular and its 2007 follow-up Kala. // / Y / arrived in the States on July 13 on M.I.A.'s own N.E.E.T.
Recordings imprint through Interscope and features collaborations with the likes of Diplo, Switch, Blaqstarr and Rusko. M.I.A. recorded the 12-track follow-up to Kala in Los Angeles, where she moved in early 2009 with her fiance Ben Bronfman (whose father is Warner Music group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr.) and the couple's child Ikhyd.
