McEntire, Clarkson Sharing Band On Tour

January 07, 2008, 11:05 AM ET
Ken Tucker, Nashville

Billboard.com

Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson's upcoming "2 Worlds 2 Voices Tour" will find the pair joining forces to share one band, one stage and plenty of hits.

The 15-city tour, which will include stops in Louisville, Indianapolis, Norfolk, Va., and Winston-Salem, N.C., will kick off Jan. 17 in Dayton at Nutter Center and wrap Feb. 16 at Kansas City's new Sprint Center.

McEntire tells Billboard that the tour, and Clarkson's appearance on her recent "Reba Duets" album, is the result of a successful CMT "Crossroads" collaboration. "We had such a good time together," she says. "Kelly and I were disappointed because it was over so fast."

The concept for the tour is something that McEntire and husband/manager Narvel Blackstock have been talking about for a few years. "Narvel and I have wanted to do this package where we had one band backing three or four different girls for a long time," McEntire says. "We never could get it pulled together, but Kelly said 'yes.'" (Blackstock began managing Clarkson last summer.)

The pair will be backed by a single band and will stay on stage throughout the show, "Unless she's doing a song and I want to use the bathroom," McEntire laughs.

And though McEntire is known for her big stage productions and costume changes, this tour will be different. "This is not about the big production -- this is about the music," she says. "This is about two singers who love to sing, whether it's lead or harmony."

McEntire, Billboard's 2007 Woman of the Year, calls the limited engagement tour a "test run" that might be expanded. "It depends on the people -- my fans, Kelly's fans, new fans -- if they're interested, whether they like it or not and come out and see it.

"I hope it works out," McEntire says of the possibility of an extended tour. "I love working with Kelly. On stage it's magical. It's just electrifying."

The pairing works, McEntire says, because of their mutual admiration. "She's a huge fan of my music, which delights the fire out of me, and I'm a huge fan of her music," she says. "We're both gonna have so much fun singing each other's songs. They're great songs. Her songs tell stories and so do mine -- they're heartfelt, they're emotional, they're fun."