Mary J. Blige to perform in Nigeria

[Richard Akindele]

[Richard Akindele]

The first annual THISDAY Music Festival has continued to hit international and local media headlines with one of the leading acts on the bill for the show, Beyonce, saying she looks forward to coming to Nigeria to spread the message of peace and hope.

"I feel blessed for this opportunity for my all-female band and me to appear on stage with some of the world's most talented artists and share the universal message of peace, hope and beauty that music brings to all of us," she was quoted by Billboard an American music review journal.

She adds: "It's a great thrill to come to West Africa for the first time to celebrate Nigeria's independence."

THISDAY, one of the largest Africa-owned media groups in Africa, publishes newspapers, magazines and online (www.thisdayonline.com) and hosts the biggest awards events in Africa including this year's inaugural first annual THISDAY Music Festival.

Beyoncé's second solo album, B'Day, recently entered the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums chart at #1 while her "Check On It" video took home the MTV Video Music Award for the year's Best R&B Video.

Beyoncé became one of the most widely-recognized and highly-respected women in pop culture as a founding member of Destiny's Child, the top-selling female group of all time.

Over the past decade, Beyoncé has earned numerous accolades including Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, World Music Awards, and NAACP Image Awards. In 2001, when Beyoncé took home an ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year Award, she became the first African-American woman -- and the second woman ever -- to receive that honor.

Beyoncé made her acting debut in 2001 in the made-for-television production "MTV's Hip Hopera: Carmen." In 2002, she co-starred as "Foxxy Cleopatra" opposite Mike Myers in "Austin Powers In Goldmember," cited in the Guinness Book of World Records for achieving the Highest Box Office Comedy Film Gross in film history. The iconic performer took home her 9th Grammy Award (for her duet with Stevie Wonder, "So Amazing") in 2006 as her then-current single--"Check On It"--topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the third week in a row; and her then-current film, "The Pink Panther," starring Steve Martin become America's #1 box office sensation. Both "Austin Powers in Goldmember" and "The Pink Panther" opened at #1 at the box office in the U.S. Beyoncé's latest film project, the movie version of the hit musical "Dreamgirls," is slated for release in December 2006.

This Day.