The Justified & Stripped Tour
The Justified & Stripped Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American recording artists Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. It was launched in support of Timberlake's debut studio album, Justified (2002), and Aguilera's fourth studio album, Stripped (2002). Timberlake announced that he would go on a co-headlining tour at the 2003 American Music Awards on January 13, 2003, and it was officially announced the following day that Aguilera would be the co-headlined artist of the tour. Tour dates were revealed on February 21, 2003; it kicked off on June 4, 2003 in Phoenix, Arizona and visited 45 cities in North America. The Black Eyed Peas were serviced as the tour's supporting act.
| Tour by Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera | |||||||||||||
| Location | North America | ||||||||||||
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| Associated albums | |||||||||||||
| Start date | June 4, 2003 | ||||||||||||
| End date | September 2, 2003 | ||||||||||||
| No. of shows | 45 | ||||||||||||
| Supporting act(s) | Black Eyed Peas | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 546,483 | ||||||||||||
| Box office | US$30,261,670 | ||||||||||||
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The set list was composed generally from Timberlake's Justified and Aguilera's Stripped. However, both artists also added material from their early works, including Timberlake's work with NSYNC and Aguilera's self-titled debut album; she also performed two of Etta James's songs: "At Last" and "I Prefer You". The Justified and Stripped Tour was divided into five segments, two for Aguilera and three for Timberlake, with each segment being followed by an interlude to the next segment, and it ended with an encore, lasting for a total of 160 minutes.
The tour was met with mixed reviews from most contemporary music critics. Some praised the maturities of the two artists, while others criticized their vocal abilities during the tour. They also believed that Aguilera's image during the tour resembled that of American recording artist Cher, and her part concentrated too much on her vocal abilities, while Timberlake's part worked his considerable sex appeal. However, the tour was a commercial success, garnering more than US$30 million and becoming the fifth-highest-grossing tour in 2003. It also became the third-highest-grossing co-headlining tour of the year. In late 2003, the tour's extension, The Stripped Tour was held to promote Aguilera's Stripped without Timberlake's act. An extended play, entitled Justin & Christina, was released exclusively at Target Stores to support the tour.