Veteran dancehall artist Buju Banton is set to make his first U.S. performance in 14 years.
His Long Walk to Freedom concert will take place on Saturday, July 13, 2024, at the UBS Arena in New York.
Tickets go on sale Friday, May 31, with pre-sale tickets available starting Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Banton returned to the U.S. for the first time since his arrest nearly 15 years ago.
Legal experts had speculated that, since Banton (whose real name is Mark Myrie) was deported, he would only be allowed back on a temporary work visa, not on a visitor or non-immigrant visa.
The last time Buju Banton performed in the US
Buju Banton had been in the United States in December 2009, when Drug Enforcement Administration agents remanded him to custody in Miami. He was charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession of more than five kilograms of cocaine.
Banton was then moved to the Pinellas County Jail where he remained until trial. A six-day trial in Tampa, Florida was declared a mistrial in September 2010, after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
He was allowed to perform one concert before his second trial, which was held in January 2011 to a sold-out crowd in Miami. A few weeks after the performance, Banton’s Before the Dawn album was announced as the winner of Best Reggae Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.
In February 2011, Banton was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense, and using communication wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offense. He was found not guilty on the charge of attempted possession of five kilograms or more of cocaine.
Four months later, he was sentenced to ten years and one month in a federal prison for the cocaine trafficking conviction. Banton was released on December 7, 2018, from McRae Correctional Institution in Georgia.
He was deported back to Jamaica where he received a warm welcome from thousands of fans at the National Stadium during his Long Walk to Freedom concert held in March 2019.
Read more: Buju Banton is back in the United States after several years
