Jay-Z is celebrating three decades of music with two major stadium shows in Paris and Los Angeles, continuing a year dedicated to revisiting some of the defining moments of his career.

The rapper and Roc Nation have announced two special JAY-Z 30 concerts, with the first taking place at Stade de France in Paris on September 10, followed by a second performance at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on October 23.

The shows arrive as Jay-Z continues to look back at a catalogue that has helped shape hip-hop over the past 30 years.

Paris and Los Angeles join the anniversary celebrations

While the exact format and set lists for the new concerts have not yet been revealed, the JAY-Z 30 title makes their retrospective focus clear.

The performances are expected to draw from different periods of Jay-Z’s career, spanning his earliest releases through decades of albums, collaborations and global hits.

The Paris date will bring the anniversary celebration to one of Europe’s biggest stadiums, while the Los Angeles concert will take place at SoFi Stadium, one of the most prominent entertainment venues in the United States.

Thirty years since Reasonable Doubt

The anniversary celebrations come three decades after Jay-Z released his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, in 1996.

The record became the starting point for a career that would eventually establish him as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop.

Over the following years, Jay-Z built a catalogue that includes albums such as The Blueprint, The Black Album, American Gangster and 4:44, while expanding beyond music into business, entertainment and culture.

His 2026 performances have increasingly reflected that history rather than focusing on a single current album.

Special Yankee Stadium shows are also planned

Before heading to Paris and Los Angeles, Jay-Z is scheduled to perform three concerts at Yankee Stadium.

Those shows will celebrate two particularly important albums in his catalogue: Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint.

The latter was released in 2001 and remains one of the most acclaimed projects of his career.

Together, the New York concerts and the newly announced international dates are turning 2026 into one of Jay-Z’s most extensive career retrospectives in years.

A reunion with The Roots in Philadelphia

Earlier this year, Jay-Z also returned to the stage at the Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, where he performed with The Roots.

The collaboration carried its own history.

Jay-Z and The Roots famously worked together on his 2001 MTV Unplugged performance, and their reunion offered a new live interpretation of songs from across his catalogue.

The Philadelphia set also included appearances from local artists including Jazmine Sullivan, Bilal, Freeway and Beanie Sigel.

Rather than presenting a conventional greatest-hits performance, the concert celebrated both Jay-Z’s career and Philadelphia’s musical culture.

A rare return to large-scale live performance

The JAY-Z 30 concerts are particularly significant because Jay-Z has become increasingly selective about his live appearances.

Unlike artists who remain permanently on tour, he has spent recent years appearing primarily for special performances, collaborations and major cultural events.

That makes stadium concerts in Paris and Los Angeles notable moments for fans who have had relatively few opportunities to see him headline large-scale shows in recent years.

The anniversary format also gives Jay-Z the chance to approach his catalogue differently, treating the performances as a reflection on three decades rather than simply another tour.

One of hip-hop’s most influential careers

Since emerging from Brooklyn in the 1990s, Jay-Z has grown from rapper and independent label founder into a global entertainment figure.

His influence extends through music, fashion, sports, business and artist management, while Roc Nation has developed into one of the industry’s most powerful entertainment companies.

But the JAY-Z 30 project brings the attention back to where that story began: the music.

Thirty years after Reasonable Doubt, Jay-Z is returning to some of the world’s biggest stages to revisit the songs and albums that transformed him from a New York rapper into one of hip-hop’s defining figures.

With Paris set for September and Los Angeles following in October, the celebration of Jay-Z’s first three decades is becoming a truly international one.