ABOUT MISSY ELLIOTT
One of the most significant female artists in the annals of contemporary music, Missy Elliott is making history once again in 2024 with the OUT OF THIS WORLD — The Missy Elliott Experience – her first-ever headline tour, accompanied by her longtime co-stars Busta Rhymes, Ciara and special guest Timbaland. An avant-garde solo superstar, pioneering songwriter-producer, and across-the-board cultural icon, the four-time GRAMMY® Award winning Elliott has attained unprecedented success, including 22 GRAMMY® nominations spanning three decades, eight MTV Video Music Awards, and sales now exceeding 30M in the U.S. alone. All of Missy’s six studio albums have each been RIAA platinum certified or better, marking her among the only female rappers ever to achieve that remarkable accomplishment. Among her countless triumphs, 2023 saw Elliott named as the first female hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, rightly declaring her “a true path breaker in a male-dominated genre.”
Elliott’s most recent work, 2019’s acclaimed EP, ICONOLOGY, drew instant applause upon its surprise release, with USA Today declaring it “a master class at the school of Missy Misdemeanor Elliott.” That same year saw the iconic star making history as the first female hip-hop artist ever to receive the MTV Video Music Awards’ prestigious Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. 2019 also saw her break new ground as the first female hip-hop artist and third-ever rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In addition, Elliott became the first female rapper to receive an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, celebrating her lasting contributions to music and popular culture. Further accolades followed in 2021, with Elliott named among the twelve inaugural inductees for the new Atlanta landmark, The Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and later honored with her own star on the world famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2022, Elliott’s hometown of Portsmouth, VA celebrated its favorite daughter by presenting her with the Key to the City and renaming a portion of McLean Street to “Missy Elliott Boulevard” and declaring October 17 as Missy Elliott Day. What’s more, Virginia’s Norfolk State University awarded Elliott with the Presidential Commencement Medallion and an honorary degree at their fall 2022 commencement ceremony, acknowledging her “outstanding professional achievements and extraordinary contributions to public service.”
In addition to her historic induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023, the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective presented Elliott with its Recording Academy Global Impact Award, honoring her personal and professional achievements in the music industry. The 2023 GRAMMY® Awards saw Elliott among the superstars celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, joining such icons as LL Cool J, Ice-T, Method Man, Busta Rhymes, and Salt-N-Pepa for a landmark performance honoring the genre’s diverse history. Additional 2023 tributes include the Black Music Honors’ “Music Innovator Icon” award as well as a special ESSENCE cover story celebrating her headline performance at the 2023 ESSENCE Festival of Culture in New Orleans. Indeed, Missy Elliott deserves all the flowers and then some. Now, with her OUT OF THIS WORLD — The Missy Elliott Experience hitting arenas across North America with Ciara, Busta Rhymes and special guest Timbaland – and new music always on the horizon – Missy Elliott continues to stand tall over pop culture as a true creative architect and revolutionary artist, her prophetic sound and vision as groundbreaking and influential as ever before.
