The Divine Miss M, Bette Midler, has been a fixture in popular culture for over 40 years. A singer, an actress, an activist, Hotspots cover model — she has done it all. Recently, she even 
recorded an album that’s a tribute to all of her female musical inspirations, called It’s the Girls!
Now, encouraged by the success of that album, she has decided to embark on her first worldwide tour in a decade, and to make this news even more special for us, she is starting her tour right here in the Sunshine State.
Bette Midler’s “Divine Intervention” Tour will begin with two performances on Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood. Afterwards, she will be performing to the Central Florida crowd on Monday, May 11 when she takes the stage at Amalie Arena.
“I can’t believe it’s been a decade since I toured across this great country—but so I’ve been told,” Bette Midler said when she announced her tour would debut at Hard Rock Live. “I’m ready to bring some ‘Divine Intervention’ to all of my fans. Even though I’m already exhausted just thinking about it… I can’t wait to perform some of the favorites, as well as some of the new favorites from my most recent album, It’s the Girls!. See you on the road!”
This tour will be particularly special because Bette will be accompanied on-stage by a 14-piece band and her backup singers, the Harlettes. The stage’s production design was conceptualized by designer Michael Cotten. You can expect to hear all of your favorites from Bette’s twenty-fifth and most recent album, It’s the Girls!, as well as the songs you know and love from throughout her storied career.
“As South Florida’s premier destination for fun and entertainment, Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is dedicated to providing world-class concerts for our guests to enjoy,” Dave Gold, Vice-President of Entertainment at Hard Rock Live Hollywood told Hotspots in an exclusive statement. “Music is one of those elements that bring people of all walks of life and backgrounds together; and hosting an iconic entertainer such as Bette Midler, the Divine Miss M – especially as she kicks off her first tour in ten years – is a special opportunity for both her fans and for our team. Music lovers always remember where they were when they saw their idol perform. At Hard Rock Live, it excites us to create these special moments and bring these memories to life.”
ABOUT THE DIVINE MISS M
Bette Midler was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and moved to New York City to pursue her dreams of acting and singing at the age of 19. She made a name for herself on Broadway in such productions as Fiddler on the Roof and Salvation. During this time, she started singing at the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse, with Barry Manilow accompanying her on the piano. She earned a very loyal following, as well as the nickname “Bathhouse Betty,” which she has accepted with pride (even naming one of her albums “Bathhouse Betty”).
Bette broke through to the mainstream with her debut release The Divine Miss M in 1972. Her follow-up eponymous album, Bette Midler, was released the next year and both albums made it to the top ten on the Billboard album charts. Her star power rose throughout the 1970s, culminating in her first foray into film, playing the troubled, drug-addicted star singer in The Rose. She earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance.
In the 1980s, Bette pursued acting and landed roles in a string of successful movies, such as Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Ruthless People, Outrageous Fortune, Big Business, and Beaches. She sang the songs on the soundtrack for Beaches, and it became her best-selling record of her career. It went multi-platinum and earned Bette a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The song “Wind Beneath My Wings” was particularly popular, as it soared to #1 on the pop charts and also achieved platinum status in its own right as a single. Her next single, “From a Distance,” from the album Some People’s Lives, also went platinum and topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.
She continued her acting career in the 1990s, earning a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for her role in For the Boys, followed by well-received performances in the films Hocus Pocus and The First Wives Club. She would earn an Emmy Award for her HBO special, Diva Las Vegas, in 1997. Her final three albums for Warner Brothers were well-received by fans, but it was a switch in record labels that ignited her music career once more. In 2003, after 
signing to Columbia Records, she partnered with Barry Manilow once more to record Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook. The album received a gold certification and she toured for the next two years, singing to sold-out audiences all over the world. Her follow-up, Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook, also charted in the Billboard Top Ten, earning her another certification and a Grammy Award nomination.
In recent years, Bette entertained crowds for two years in residency at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, followed by a return to Broadway, playing the lead in I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers. She also helped produce the Broadway musical version of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. Her most recent album, It’s the Girls!, features Bette covering the greatest girl groups in popular music, from the Andrews Sisters all the way up to TLC.
In her career, Bette Midler has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Six of her albums went platinum on the Billboard charts, with three being certified multi-platinum. She has received four Grammy Awards, three Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Academy Award nominations.
HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS
Tickets are available for purchase for her Hollywood and Tampa performances right now by going to bettemidler.com, purchasing directly from the venues at myhrl.com and amaliearena.com, or by visiting third-party outlets like Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Tickets are priced starting at $154 (Hollywood) and $42 (Tampa).
VIP packages are available as well, which would entitle the ticketholder to premium seating, access to a pre-show lounge, and a meet and greet opportunity with The Divine Miss M herself (meet and greet option available in Tampa only). Also, people buying tickets for the Tampa performance will receive a copy of It’s the Girls! in the mail as a thank you for attending. Visit ticketmaster.com to learn how you can purchase a VIP package and have your picture taken with Bette!
For more information on Bette Midler, visit bettemidler.com. Follow her on social media as well at facebook.com/bettemidler and twitter.com/bettemidler.
