and are celebrating the historic holiday of Juneteenth with a special edition of the “Verzuz” battles. and ‘s “Verzuz” series has become a pivotal source of entertainment these past few months in quarantine, giving us musical duels from pairs of opponents like Lil Jon and T-Pain,  and DJ Premier, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, Babyface and Teddy Riley, Mannie Fresh and Scott Storch, and Ludacris, and more. The most recent battle took place between gospel singers Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond at the end of last month, and after a brief hiatus, “Verzuz” is back with a piano face-off for the ages.

On Saturday (June 13th), “Verzuz” announced that the special Juneteenth battle between the two master pianists would (of course) be taking place next Friday, June 19th, at 8:00pm (EST). The idea of a piano battle against Alicia had been floated by John prior to the official announcement.  John said about the prospect at the time.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARAS

This special Juneteenth battle coincides with the release of John’s new album, Bigger Love, which also drops on the 19th.

Will you be tuning in?