With a platinum debut album and a Grammy nomination under his belt, Ruben Studdard, the winner of last year's American Idol competition, says he's now ready to take his Soulful sound on the road.

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Ruben has announced a nineteen city five-week American tour that begins March 4 at the legendary Pantages Theater in Los Angeles and finishes in Detroit on April 11th.

"I am really excited about going on tour," said Ruben, "My band is really tight and this is my favorite part of the job - getting out there and performing for the people in an intimate setting. So if you're ready for a unique musical experience, don't miss the Ruben Studdard Soulful tour."

Ruben's tour follows last month's announcement that first season Idol winner Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken, the Idol runner-up who lost last year's competition to Ruben, are launching their own thirty city tour next week in Charlotte, NC. With their overlapping tour dates and stops at many of the same cities, the two tours will give Idol fans in numerous cities the rare opportunity to see all three Idol stars within only days or weeks of each other.

Ruben's current album Soulful features the top ten hit single Sorry 2004, the Grammy nominated song Superstar, as well as Flying Without Wings. Soulful debuted at number 1 on Billboard's Top 200 Chart and has sold more than 1.3 million units in the U.S., remaining in the top 10 for more than 9 weeks since its December 2003 release.

Ruben Studdard is managed by Simon Fuller, the creator of American Idol and the founder of the 19 Group of companies. Among Fuller's other management clients are Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Annie Lennox.

Ruben's full upcoming Soulful tour schedule follows below:
  City                         Venue                      Date

• Los Angeles Pantages Theater 3/4
• Las Vegas Cox Pavilion 3/5
• San Francisco Warfield 3/7
• Philadelphia Electric Factory 3/11
• Washington D.C. Warner Theater 3/12
• Baltimore Morgan University Theater 3/13
• Charlotte Ovens Auditorium 3/14
• Miami Mizner Amphitheater 3/16
• Clearwater Ruth Eckerd 3/17
• Atlanta Symphony Hall 3/18
• Houston Verizon Theater 3/21
• Dallas NextStage Theater 3/23
• Kansas City, MO Midland Theater 3/24
• St. Louis Pageant Theater 3/25
• Memphis Orpheum Theater 3/26
• New York Beacon Theater 4/7
• Richmond Carpenter Center 4/8
• Cleveland Allen Theater 4/9
• Chicago Vic Theater 4/10
• Detroit Opera House 4/11