Music News for Tuesday

CHRISTINA AGUILERA ANNOUNCES BIG BOI AS SPECIAL GUEST FOR LIBERATION TOUR: Christina Aguilera is gearing up for a busy year, with the impending release of her anticipated album Liberation and its accompanying tour. On Monday, she announced she’ll be joined by rapper Big Boi for select dates of her North American tour. The Liberation tour is Aguilera’s first since 2008 and will follow the release of her eighth studio album, out June 15th. The 22-city jaunt begins September 25th in Hollywood, Florida, and wraps up November 13th in St. Petersburg, Florida. Big Boi will open for Aguilera in select cities, including New York, Phoenix and Atlanta. Fans can also catch Aguilera performing live ahead of her tour when she takes to the Billboard Music Awards stage with Demi Lovato on May 20th.

FIFTH HARMONY’S LAUREN JAUREGUI TALKS SOLO SONGWRITING: Following Fifth Harmony’s final concert before going on hiatus, Lauren Jauregui participated in a Twitter Q&A with fans early Monday to discuss her work as a solo artist. She admitted she was initially scared to start writing songs on her own. “Fun fact: I actually only started writing actual songs this year,” she said. “I had only written two songs in my life completely that I thought were ok and I was too scared of failure to try until my world shifted earlier this year.” Fifth Harmony announced their hiatus back in March. Their final concert for the foreseeable future took place Friday in Florida. Lauren said she wrote her first song in February and then wrote two more after that. “The rest of the songs you’ll hear I’ve actually written within the past 3 weeks/month,” Lauren told fans. Lauren will be opening for Halsey on the Latin American leg of the hopeless fountain kingdom tour in June. She hinted that fans might get a taste of her new music during those tour dates.

SHAWN MENDES IS PERFORMING FOR ‘ONE NIGHT ONLY’ AT FORD THEATER: This Thursday at Ford Theater in Hollywood, Shawn Mendes will take the stage for a special concert promoting his new self-titled album. You can sign up for free tickets to attend the show, dubbed Apple Music Presents: Shawn Mendes, One Night Only, online at 1iota.com. If you can’t make it to Hollywood, you can watch a live stream of the event starting at 7:45 p.m. [PT] Thursday on the Beats 1 YouTube channel. It’ll also be on demand on Apple Music. Following the special performance, which will include the premiere of a new song, Shane will do a Q&A with Beats 1’s Zane Lowe. Shawn’s self-titled, his third, album will arrive May 25th.

ED SHEERAN, ZEDD & MAREN MORRIS ADDED TO BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS LINEUP: Ed Sheeran will appear at this weekend’s Billboard Music Awards – but he won’t be in the building. The show airs live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but since Ed’s on tour, his performance will take place on location from Dublin, Ireland. Meanwhile, Zedd, Grey and Maren Morris have also been added to the bill. The three acts are currently enjoying a smash hit with the song “The Middle.” The other performers on the bill include Kelly Clarkson, Janet Jackson, Dua Lipa, John Legend, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello and, teaming up for their new duet “Fall In Line,” Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato. The Billboard Music Awards air Sunday night on NBC.