R&B Music Experience Chicago

Celebrated most for her yearning love songs and hooks, but just as capable of using her smooth, sweet, meringue-like voice to deliver anguished cinematic ballads, Ashanti became an almost inescapable pop-R&B force in 2002. The week of March 30 that year, the singer and songwriter followed the Beatles as only the second artist to simultaneously occupy spots in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 with her first three charting singles. She was featured on Murder Inc. labelmate Ja Rule's "Always on Time" and Fat Joe's "What's Luv?," hits that took the fourth and fifth positions, while "Foolish," her debut solo single, moved up to number nine. Upon arrival the next month, her self-titled album topped the Billboard 200 on its way to triple-platinum, Grammy-winning status. After Chapter II (2003), Concrete Rose (2004), and The Declaration (2008) sustained her commercial prominence, Ashanti parted ways with Murder Inc. (aka The Inc.), only to score her fifth Top Ten studio album with the independently released Braveheart (2014). These successes were followed by an assortment of singles and high-profile contributions to titles ranging from The Hamilton Mixtape (2016) to DaBaby's "Nasty" (2020).

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When Monica arrived in the wake of the new jack swing era with the multi-platinum Miss Thang (1995), the singer was among a class of teenaged pop-R&B newcomers with the likes of Usher, Brandy, and Aaliyah. She stood out with distinctly Southern grit and boldness, as well as unmatched maturity and versatility that belied her age. Like those peers, Monica proved to be no mere shooting star. Her follow-up, The Boy Is Mine (1998), also went multi-platinum, powered by the Brandy duet of the same title, which for three months topped the Hot 100 before it took that year's Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Just as she and early supporter Dallas Austin were key to the emergence of the Atlanta music scene in the '90s, Monica was a major factor in the city's dominance across the next two decades. She put together four straight Top Ten albums, including the chart-topping After the Storm (2003), and each one involved established and emergent Georgians as producers, fellow songwriters, and featured artists. By the time Monica ended her major-label affiliation, following her eighth album Code Red (2015), her catalog was deep and deceptively vast, ranging from Diane Warren-penned adult contemporary ballads to Millie Jackson-like broadsides, and from vintage-sounding slow jams produced by Missy Elliott to booming tracks straight from the streets of ATL. She has since gone independent with singles issued in anticipation of Trenches (2020), her ninth full-length.

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Tamar Braxton's entry into the music industry came through her five-member sibling group, the Braxtons, which featured older sisters Traci, Trina, Towanda, and, most notably, Toni. The quartet released one single, the number 79 Billboard R&B single "Good Life," for Arista in 1990. The group was dropped, but Toni was subsequently signed by LaFace and featured her sisters as part of her backing group. Minus Toni and Traci, the Braxtons signed to Atlantic and released the moderately successful So Many Ways in 1996; a Masters at Work remix of their Diana Ross cover, "The Boss," topped Billboard's club chart.

Tamar eventually left the group to establish a solo career on the Dreamworks label. After a false start, Tamar released a self-titled album in 2000 that placed two singles on the charts, including the Top 30 R&B hit "If You Don't Wanna Love Me," co-written by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Xscape's LaTocha Scott. She continued to perform background vocals for Toni's albums and was briefly signed to Casablanca -- an association that did not pan out. She took part in the reality series Braxton Family Values and Tamar & Vince and signed to Epic. Her December 2012 single "Love and War" peaked at number five on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and preceded her album of the same title, released the following September. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Only two months later, she released the holiday album Winter Loversland. Three Grammy nominations for Love and War and its title track followed shortly after that. As she maintained her reality television profile, she recorded her third proper studio album, Calling All Lovers, which was released in 2015. In the summer of 2017, Braxton issued the single "My Man" in advance of her album, I Know Who I Am as a Woman.

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SILK is best known for their hit singles, “Freak Me” which reached number-one on the US Billboard Hot 100, and “Happy Days” from their debut album, Lose Control. Another hit from Lose Control, “Girl U For Me”, helped the album reach double platinum status. They later had success with singles such as “I Can Go Deep”, “Hooked on You”, “Don’t Rush”, “If You” (released February 23, 1999) “Meeting in My Bedroom”, and “We’re Calling You”. In 1994, Silk won Album Of The Year for Lose Control at the Soul Train Music Awards.

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Discovered by Michael Bivins of New Edition, 702 is a teenage trio -- Irish, Kameelah, and Lemisha -- who made their recorded debut singing on Subway's hit single "This Lil' Game We Play." The group released their debut album, No Doubt, in the fall of 1996, preceded by the single "Steelo." Several other singles from the album followed in 1997, including the title track, "Get It Together," and "All I Want." The group returned in 1999 with a self-titled full-length as well as the single "Where My Girls At?"

McCormick Place Parking Lot A provides the most convenient on-site parking access for Wintrust Arena events.

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A limited number of prepaid guaranteed parking spaces are available at the rate of $38 per day by advance order. Parking spaces are guaranteed even if lots fill to capacity.

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In an effort to enhance public safety and the fan experience, Wintrust Arena utilizes metal detectors and enforces the following purse and bag policy limiting the size and style of bags allowed.

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For the safety, security, and enjoyment of all guests, the following items are not allowed in the Wintrust Arena. Your cooperation will help expedite entering the facility.

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In accordance with the City of Chicago and the Smoke-Free Illinois Act, smoking is prohibited inside Wintrust Arena and Arie Crown Theater. (this includes all smoking tobacco, marijuana, e-cigarettes and vaporizers). Violators of this policy may be ejected from the venue.