Grammy-winning 'Slumdog' music star coming to Sears Centre

Most know him as the Oscar- and Grammy-award winner lauded for the soundtrack to "Slumdog Millionaire."

A.R. Rahman will perform his award-winning hits on June 18 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates. He won Academy Awards in 2009 for "Best Original Score" and "Best Original Song" for "Jai Ho" and "O Saya." The latter was his collaboration with Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A.

He also won two Grammy Awards earlier this year for his soundtrack work for "Slumdog," the 2009 Academy Award winner for picture of the year.

This will be his second performance at the Sears Centre, as he played in Hoffman Estates in June 2007. The show will be hotter now that Rahman has won awards, said Ben Gibbs, the Sears Centre's executive director, calling the show "a feather in their cap."

Since being hired to run the building late last year, Gibbs and his staff have secured Elton John, Daughtry and Hillsong United to perform.

"Obviously it doesn't happen overnight," Gibbs said. "But you're seeing the good work that we're bringing to the table with just the natural strengths of the building."

Rahman, who hails from India, is one of the country's most successful composers, mixing traditional Indian music with more modern sounds.

The "A.R. Rahman Jai Ho Concert: The Journey Home Tour" stops at 20 cities, kicking off on June 11 at the Nassau Coliseum in New York.

Promoters at Shows2U Entertainment are touting a special section around the stage, "The Jai Ho Circle," at unlisted prices.

Tickets for the other seats for the Sears Centre show are priced at $45, $75, $105 and $250. They go on sale at 10 a.m. on March 23 at searscentre.com, ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster outlets, the Sears Centre box office and by phone at (800) 745-3000.