MG Live and Frontier Touring proudly announce Grammy award-winning hip-hop visionaries The Roots east coast tour for January 2025 – the band’s first Australian headline tour in 12 years! Joining The Roots at all shows as special guests will be US legendary Brooklyn based MC Talib Kweli and three-time Grammy nominated songwriter from Melbourne, Nai Palm.  

Frontier Member presale commences Tuesday 10 September from 1pm local before tickets go on sale Wednesday 11 September from 2pm local time. Tickets via frontiertouring.com/theroots 

Kicking off 2025, Melbourne fans will be lucky enough to enjoy an evening with The Roots at Melbourne’s beautiful Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Wednesday 1 January to celebrate New Years Day before heading to Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Thursday 2 January, with a final AU show at Brisbane’s Eatons Hill Outdoors on Friday 3 January. 

“a hip-hop group like no other keep their freak-flag flying” ★★★★  - The Guardian 

“arguably Hip-Hop’s greatest band ever: The Roots”  – Syphersights

The Roots were co-founded by childhood friends Black Thought and Questlove in 1987 with their passionate and innovative approach to hip-hop playing underground gigs in Philadelphia, New York and across Europe. From releasing their debut album Organix in 1993, the band have gone on to release 11 studio albums and released legendary hip-hop hits including ‘You Got Me ft. Erykah Badu’, ‘Hang in There (with John Legend)’, ‘The Seed (2.0) ft. Cody ChesnuTT’, ‘Never ft. Patty Crash’, ‘The Next Moment’, ‘What They Do’ and ‘Don’t Say Nuthin’’.  In 2009, the band began their tenure as house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Displaying an impeccable knack for versatility and improvisation, the band have become a fixture on television screens across the world to this day cementing their place within pop culture history.  Questlove also serves as the show's Musical Director. 

Watch: The Roots ‘You Got Me ft. Erykah Badu’ Official Video 

More about The Roots
The legendary Roots Crew have become one of the best known and most respected hip-hop acts in the business, winning four GRAMMYS, including "Best R&B Album" for Wake Up!, "Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance" for "Hang in There" (with John Legend) and "Best Group or Duo R&B Vocal Performance" for "Shine." This brings the band's GRAMMY nomination count to twelve. Additionally, "The Roots Picnic," a yearly star-studded mix of musicians, has become a celebrated institution. The Roots were named one of the greatest live bands around by Rolling Stone and serve as the official house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. 

"Cosmic jazz-funk, blizzards of electro-terrorism – the frantic Philadelphians shock and awe in this sprawling show" – The Guardian

“The Roots are one of the most exposed music acts of all time… still, they manage to go against the grain at every given opportunity.” – Dallas Observer 

“From the moment they took the stage, every corner of the band’s set was packed with staggeringly high energy.” - Spectrum Culture

Watch: Talib Kweli ‘Get By’ Official Video 

About Talib Kweli
The Brooklyn-based MC earned his stripes as one of the most lyrically-gifted, socially aware and politically insightful rappers to emerge in the last 20 years. 

“I’m a touring artist. I’m an artist that’s internationally known. I’m not just a local artist at this point in my career. I’m cognizant of the fact that what I do is beyond where it started. I’m trying to reach the apex of where I am now, but without turning my back on or dismissing what I’ve done before.” 

After nearly 20 years of releasing mesmerizing music, Talib Kweli stands as one of the world’s most talented and most accomplished Hip Hop artists. Whether working with Mos Def as one-half of Black Star, partnering with producer Hi-Tek for Reflection Eternal, releasing landmark solo material or collaborating with Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Just Blaze, J Dilla, or Madlib, Kweli commands attention by delivering top-tier lyricism, crafting captivating stories and showing the ability to rhyme over virtually any type of instrumental. 

In 2011, Kweli founded Javotti Media, which is self-defined as “a platform for independent thinkers and doers.” Kweli has set out to make Javotti Media (which released his 2011 album, Gutter Rainbows, and is named after his paternal grandmother) into a media powerhouse that releases music, films and books. 

Watch: Nai Palm ‘Crossfire’ Official Video 

About Nai Palm
Nai Palm is the kind of artist that arrives once in a generation.  A three-time Grammy nominated songwriter from Melbourne. She is a composer, instrumentalist, producer, vocalist and poet who approaches these self-taught disciplines with an intuitive, infectious grace, which has sent her on a journey to sculpt songs that have been received and treasured across the world. 

It is a world she has travelled many times over with her band Hiatus Kaiyote who, along with Nai Palm, have become household names since they first began playing together in Melbourne in 2011.  Hiatus Kaiyote broke internationally in 2012 with their first LP, Tawk Tomahawk, which was praised by simpatico musical travellers from Erykah Badu to Questlove to Prince and embraced by DJs like the BBC’s Gilles Peterson and DJ Jazzy Jeff.  Their first R&B Grammy nomination, for their song ‘Nakamarra’, was followed by a second for ‘Breathing Underwater’ and third with their ‘Mood Valiant’ album.  

The Roots January headline shows with very special guests Talib Kewli and Nai Palm are set to be the tour highlight of 2025!