Ricky to join BET Scream Tour

NEW YORK  --  Blue Star Entertainment/Atlantic recording group Pretty Ricky and Bad Boy recording group B5 have joined the lineup for the eagerly awaited "BET Presents Scream Tour IV Festival: The Heart Throbs 2005." The cross-country trek features a number of the biggest names in modern R&B, including Bow Wow, Omarion, Marques Houston, and Bobby Valentino.

Scream Tour IV launches July 20th at Trenton, NJ's Sovereign Arena, and will spend the summer rolling through amphitheaters and arenas in close to 30 cities, including an August 24th stop at New York City's Madison Square Garden (see attached itinerary).

Pretty Ricky will be performing tracks from their smash Blue Star Entertainment/Atlantic debut, "BLUESTARS," including the massive hit single, "Grind With Me." The Miami-based sibling quartet -- rappers Slick 'Em, Baby Blue, and Spectacular, and singer Pleasure -- exploded onto the Florida music scene in late 2004, when "Grind With Me" became the most requested song in the history of Miami radio station Power 96. Subsequently signed to Atlantic by Co-Chairman/COO Craig Kallman, Pretty Ricky quickly turned into a national sensation.

"Grind With Me" is currently #3 with-a-bullet at both Urban and CHR/Rhythmic outlets nationwide, while also climbing the CHR/Pop top 40. In addition, the "Grind With Me" companion video is a Heavy rotation fave at BET, coming in this week as the network's #7 most-played clip. Last week, Pretty Ricky took part in the BET Awards pre-show festivities, having already performed on a number of BET programs, including "106 & Park," "BET Style," and "The Center."

"Grind With Me" is also a smash at MTV (where it is currently the #11 most-played clip), as well as MTV Jams and MTV Hits. Pretty Ricky recently paid a visit to MTV's Beachouse in Las Vegas and made appearances on various MTV programs, including "TRL," "Hits," and "DFX."

Bad Boy Entertainment's B5 are one of today's hottest new teen groups. The Atlanta-based brothers -- Dustin, Kelly, Patrick, Carnell, and Bryan Breeding -- merge the old school flair and finesse of the Jackson Five with the modern-day pop appeal of *NSYNC and the raw energy of New Edition to create a musical phenomenon that carves a unique niche in the music industry. B5 have drawn acclaim for their electrifying, high-energy stage show -- complete with street dancing, old school stepping and eye-popping acrobatics -- and have already performed with the likes of Mario Winans, Kanye West, Ginuwine, Usher, Fantasia, Bow Wow, Joe and others.

Describing them as "the group that fills a void in the music industry," Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and his team pulled out all the stops when it came to B5, hooking them up with some of the top producers in the business, among them Rodney Jerkins (Michael Jackson, Brandy, Whitney Houston), Ryan Leslie (Britney Spears, Carl Thomas), Sean Garrett (Usher, Ciara), Corna Boyz (Jagged Edge), Veit Renn (Backstreet Boys), and, of course, P. Diddy himself.

The resulting album -- simply titled "B5" -- is set for national release on July 19th. The album's second single -- "U Got Me" -- is currently impacting at multi-format radio and video outlets coast to coast. The video debuted at #10 on BET's "106 & Park" Video Countdown show this week and is getting attention at MTV with spins on MTV "Hits." B5 are well known among teen music fans. Their website, www.B5online.com, received more than 10 million hits just during the month of June, and a chat with B5 on www.Teenmusic.com, one of the top teen websites, crashed when more then 10,000 kids tried to log on at once. The site received more then 5,000 questions for B5 before crashing.

Via Press Release