Two of R&B’s most powerful voices share the Blue Cross Arena stage on May 8 when Fantasia and Anthony Hamilton bring their co-headlining tour to Rochester. Fantasia Barrino shot to fame as the Season 3 American Idol winner, but she’s spent the two decades since proving she’s far more than a reality TV success story — she’s a genuine vocal powerhouse with Broadway credits, Grammy nominations, and a catalogue of soulful music that draws from gospel, R&B, and rock.
Anthony Hamilton, meanwhile, is one of the most respected voices in modern soul music. His debut “Comin’ from Where I’m From” established him as a singer’s singer — an artist whose warm, weathered baritone and honest songwriting earned comparisons to Bill Withers and Al Green. Together, Fantasia and Hamilton represent the best of what contemporary R&B has to offer: vocal excellence, emotional depth, and live performances that leave everything on the stage.
The Blue Cross Arena provides the scale this double bill deserves, and Rochester R&B fans have every reason to circle May 8 on the calendar. This is a night of real singing, real songs, and the kind of vocal fireworks that simply can’t be replicated through a studio recording.