Matthew Musto, better known by his stage name “blackbear”, has been booked to perform at Grand Valley State University’s spring concert on Thursday, April 4, 2019 at Fieldhouse Arena at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at gvsu.universitytickets.com and will be $10 for students. Tickets will become available to the public on Monday, March 11.

The R&B artist/rapper received the most votes in a survey sent out in fall 2018 by the Campus Activities Board regarding who students would like to see this April. Kalie Tomlinson, who was in charge of planning the show, cited this as making him the clear top-choice for both the community and the board. 

Blackbear will join an impressive list of acts to have performed at GVSU, including All Time Low in 2018, Dan + Shay in 2016 and Hoodie Allen in 2015. 

Musto found early musical success through Soundcloud while helping write songs for other musicians including Justin Bieber’s megahit “Boyfriend”. His first EP, The Afterglow, reached the number four spot on Billboard’s Uncharted listing in 2014 before he released his first full length album, Deadroses, in 2015. 

He has since released a handful of other albums and EPs, including Digital Druglord which peaked at number 14 on U.S. charts. His most recent album, Cybersex, peaked at number 47 and includes features from artists including 2 Chainz, T-Pain, Rick Ross and Ne-Yo. His next project, titled ANONYMOUS, will be his longest full-length album to date and is scheduled for commercial release just weeks after his appearance at GVSU.