Minnesota State Fair books three giants of Gen-X R&B and hip-hop
Star Tribune· 352 words · 2 min read
TLC will hit the Minnesota State Fair grandstand again on Sept. 5 after previously performing there in 2021. (Nicole Neri/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Minnesota music fans will get to "Push It" at the State Fair this year.
Fair organizers have announced a Sept. 5 date with three of Gen-X's biggest R&B and hip-hop acts: TLC, Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue. The trio of '80s/'90s hitmakers are hitting the road together this summer and calling their outing the It's Iconic Tour.
Tickets for the trifecta concert -- which falls on the second Saturday of this year's fair -- go on sale March 26 at 10 a.m. via etix.com or by calling 800-514-3849. Prices range from $59 to $128.
TLC members Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas (the 'T' and the 'C' in the group's name) mostly kept their Atlanta-reared trio on hiatus for over a decade following the 2002 death of bandmate Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. However, they returned to the road in 2015 riding a wave of '90s nostalgia and have been regularly performing since then, prompting giant sing-alongs with their old megahits "Waterfalls," "No Scrubs," "Creep" and "Unpretty." TLC also performed at the fair grandstand in 2021 with Shaggy and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
New York hip-hop heroes Cheryl "Salt" James and Sandra "Pepa" Denton are returning to the road after becoming the first all-female rap group inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2025, 38 years after landing near the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Push It." The duo went on to deliver a few more '90s hits, including "Let's Talk About Sex" and, of course, "Whatta Man" -- the latter a collaboration with En Vogue.
Still boasting three of its heyday-era members -- Maxine Jones, Cindy Herron and Terry Ellis -- En Vogue's own string of hits also includes "Hold On," "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)," "Free Your Mind."
The tour stop by the Iconic crew is the sixth concert so far announced for this year's Minnesota State Fair grandstand series. Here's where it falls in with the other dates so far unveiled: