Ella Mai and Bazzi set to co-headline spring outdoor concert

Ella Mai won Best R&B Song at the 2019 Grammy Awards for “Boo’d Up.”

Alexander Gray

R&B artists Ella Mai and Bazzi will co-headline this spring’s outdoor concert, hosted by the Student Union Board.

The outdoor concert will take place Thursday, April 25 at 6 p.m. in the Molecular Biology parking lot, rain or shine. Tickets are on sale now.

Ella Mai broke out with her Grammy-winning “Boo’d Up” released on her third EP, “Ready.” Her clean vocals mixed over DJ Mustard’s club-ready beats evoke traditional R&B sounds of the past, wrapped in anthemic lyrics of love and heartbreak.

Later included on Mai’s self-titled debut LP, “Boo’d Up” climbed to No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and won Best R&B Song at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Her single “Trip” went on to hit No. 11 in the Hot 100.

Ella Mai is joined by pop/R&B artist Bazzi, best known for his hit singles “Mine” and “Beautiful.” Bazzi first found popularity on Vine — hitting more than 1.5 million followers — and was the first artist to debut a song on the platform with “Bring Me Home.”

“Mine” debuted at No. 56 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 thanks to viral fame from its inclusion in a Snapchat filter, eventually peaking at No. 11 on the chart. In August 2018, Bazzi also joined as an opening act for the European leg of Justin Timberlake’s “Man of the Woods” tour.

This is not the first major outdoor concert hosted by SUB. Last year’s concert brought Fetty Wap, Cheat Codes, Kyle and Andreas Moss to Iowa State’s campus. An estimated 2,500 attendees showed up for the concert of the 12,000 tickets available.

Student Government allocated $190,000 for last year’s spring outdoor concert in addition to the $60,000 put forth by SUB itself.

“That money we allocated tonight was to make sure we can make this event successful so that it can be a reoccurring event for students in the future,” Cody West, former president of Student Government, said on Nov. 29, 2017.

Tickets are $39, $25 with an ISU student ID in advance, $30 with an ISU student ID the day of the show. Tickets are available online via www.midwestix.com, as well as in the Maintenance Shop Box Office in the Memorial Union.