John Legend has given the ‘green light' for the black music and culture event of the year, and he isn't the only R&B heavyweight to put his name on the ticket for the esteemed Essence Music Festival this summer. The much-anticipated annual event is set to take place this year from July 3 – 5 at the Superdome in New Orleans, and several other music acts have recently been announced to headline the festival, as well. Beyonce, Teena Marie, Al Green, Anita Baker, Maxwell, Solange, En Vogue, Eric Benet, Robin Thicke, Janelle Monae, Raphael Saadiq, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Zap Mama, The Knux, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, Irvin Mayfield, Lalah Hathaway, the Blind Boys of Alabama and Marva Wright will all take the stage at the Essence Music Festival in July, celebrating both the festival's 15th anniversary and President Barack Obama's inauguration.

The 2009 Essence Music Festival will also pay tribute to Dallas pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes, who gave a sermon in Washington on Inauguration Day. The event is structured to have empowerment seminars run throughout the days of the event, while musical performances commence at night. Essence Music Festival tickets are available from http://www.stubhub.com/essence-music-festival-tickets and grant you automatic access to all the action, so get your in to the show today!

The Essence Music Festival is a three-day fiesta featuring music, celebrations and community togetherness which started in 1995 as a 25th anniversary event for Essence magazine. The very first Essence Music Festival was a smash success, and the following year the event was resurrected for another time and then again the next year and the next, and the event is now coming to the horizon of 15 years of sheer success. The phenomenal Essence Music Festival has forever been structured to host prominent African-American music artists and speakers as part of New Orleans' ultimate music event of the year, and with close to 270,000 attendees enjoying the show each year, the Essence Music Festival promises great things to come in 2009 and beyond, as well.

This summer, the Essence Music Festival will draw upon the past and also feature some of the country's most inspirational African-American speakers as seminar leaders, among them being the great Bill Cosby, Roland Martin, George C. Fraser, Ledisi, NeNe Leakes, Tom Joyner, Finesse Mitchell, Donnie McClurkin, Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Marvin Sapp, Rev. Al Sharpton, CeCe Winans and more.

Over the years, New Orleans' Essence Music Festival has hosted some of the country's hottest music acts such as Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, LL Cool J, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Patti LaBelle, the O'Jays, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton and more, and this year's slew of headliners isn't any less talented. Last year, the music festival drew in numbers of close to 270,000 fans in the audience over the three days of the event, and in 2006 despite the Essence Music Festival having to move to Houston because of Hurricane Katrina, it still drew in thousands of fans for seminars and musical performances that year.