Raphael Saadiq has given his fans some great news – Tony! Toni! Toné! are back together and ready to hit the road for a 2023 tour.
On Wednesday (March 22), the superstar hitmaker (real name Charles Wiggins) took to Instagram to tease the forthcoming trek, sharing a new photo of himself alongside brother D’wayne Wiggins and cousin Timothy Christian Riley. “Just Me and You Tour 2023,” he captioned the post.
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On his Instagram Story, music manager Yancey Rich (who used to manage Adrian Marcel, Saadiq’s former protege) shared a photo of a billboard advertising the tour, seemingly indicating it’s coming much sooner than later. While dates aren’t announced yet, Saadiq shared a number on his own IG Story that fans can text to get more information.
“For more info about tour dates text me now @ 310-861-2685,” he wrote.
Raphael Saadiq teases long-awaited Tony! Toni! Toné! reunion tour https://t.co/52WCdDsvQrpic.twitter.com/vrYkJrFD3j
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) March 22, 2023
Tony! Toni! Toné! sold millions of records before infamously splitting up in 1998, and delivered countless hits including “Feels Good,” “Anniversary” and “It Never Rains (In Southern California).”
In a 2019 interview with Sway’s Universe, Saadiq revealed the group would be getting back together, despite D’wayne previously saying it would never happen. The Grammy Award-winning singer elaborated on what motivated the change of heart in an interview with NME later that year.
“I’ve been working on new Tonys music for about 15 years. I just felt like we should do something, a few songs, maybe seven or eight of them and then do a few shows,” he said. “So I’m not gonna be back-back because I have way too many things going on, but as far as doing a tour and an EP or something, I’m down for that.”
He continued: “I’d actually like to perform the very last record we did together, ‘House of Music’. We never toured that record so if everyone is up for it I’d like to do that and put out three new records.”
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He also spoke on Tony! Toni! Toné!’s breakup and the rumors that it was because his brother D’wayne stole money from the group.
“It was more an appropriation of funds, if you know what I mean?” Raphael Saadiq clarified. “Things just weren’t operating right. We were young, we all really didn’t understand everything and he was sort of the leader of the group. We all had the same bank account at one time.”
