Japanese girl group XG announced the initial dates for their second world tour on Friday (Oct. 17), which is slated to kick off on Feb. 6 with the first of three shows at K-Arena Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan. Following a run of 10 more shows in Japan, a press release announcing the outing promised as-yet-unannounced shows in North America, U.K. and Europe, Australia, Latin America and other regions.

Exclusive early ticket reservations for the 13 Japan dates will open to members of XG’s ALPHAZ fan club will begin on Nov. 1, with additional details coming soon.

The tour is in support of the septet’s upcoming debut album, which is due out on Jan. 23. Last month, JURIN, CHISA, HINATA, HARVEY, JURIA, MAYA and COCONA released the first taste of the LP, the high-energy French-English dance burner “Gala,” which debuted at No. 10 on Billboard‘s U.S. Dance Digital Song Sales chart. At the time of the single’s release, MAYA told The Hollywood Reporter, “This song was mainly inspired by the iconic Met Gala. We tried so many new things, choreography wise, music wise and fashion wise, so we’re really excited to showcase that. I feel like this song is really XG.”

HARVEY added, “I think it’s fair to say that we’ve grown a lot since we first debuted, but personally I think we became a lot more fearless when it comes to challenging ourselves to new things. Especially with ‘Gala,’ I think we can see that come into play fully. We’ve challenged ourselves to try many different dances and a new sense of fashion that we haven’t done before to become bolder. In that sense, I think we’ve seen ourselves come a long way.”

XG’s first world tour, 2024’s The first HOWL, included 47 shows across 35 cities around the world in front of 400,000 fans, capped off this spring when they were the only Japanese artists to perform at the Coachella Festival.

Check out the dates for XG’s 2026 tour below.

Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here.

Cardi B has often been outspoken about political matters in the United States, and she recently slammed the economy’s rent prices while thanking fans for purchasing and supporting her new album, Am I the Drama?. And now, a senator is voicing his agreement with the rapper’s concerns about economic issues.

“I feel so bad because I didn’t realize how quickly they raised the rent prices. And I’m out here asking y’all to buy my album and s—t. I’m so sorry, y’all,” Cardi had said during an Instagram Live session earlier this week. “When I was looking at those rent prices, I was so f—king disgusted. They need to make it easier to get welfare to get a little help.”

New Mexico’s Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is a member of the Democratic party, got wind of Cardi’s sentiments and backed her up while supporting her worries about the cost of living skyrocketing across the country when it comes to rent, groceries and health-care premiums.

“@iamcardib is right. And it’s not just rent that’s going up–costs are rising across the board,” the senator wrote on X on Thursday (Oct. 16). “From your rent to your groceries to your utility bills to your health care premiums, this administration is making your life more expensive and Republicans in Congress aren’t doing anything to stop them.”

According to the USDA, food prices in America rose 3.2 percent from August 2024 to August 2025, which went up faster than inflation during the same timeframe (up 2.9 percent).

Amid the murky economic conditions, the Bardi Gang still came out to support Cardi B, as her anticipated sophomore album, Am I the Drama?, debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 200,000 album-equivalent units earned.