Keith Urban revealed the dates for his upcoming ripCORD World Tour 2016 in a very unique way…by using an artist write all the dates on his body. Check out when he’s coming to your area below.

Keith will release his Ripcord album May 6th.

Photo ID L-R: LBT’s Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook, RIAA EVP Public Policy & Industry Relations Michele Ballantyne, LBT’s Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet

Photo Credit: Becky Fluke

 

Prior to their performance at Baltimore’s Royal Farms Arena Friday night, the GRAMMY Award-winning group Little Big Town received a surprise visit from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet were presented with an RIAA Double Platinum certification plaque celebrating their smash hit, “Girl Crush.”

 “Girl Crush,” written by Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose, landed on multiple year-end “Best of” lists and was the most downloaded country single of 2015. It garnered two CMA Awards (Single of the Year and Song of the Year), was nominated for GRAMMY Song of the Year and earned the title of GRAMMY Best Country Song. The group also took home a GRAMMY for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the record-breaking tune. “Girl Crush,” the second single off Little Big Town’s Gold-selling sixth studio album PAIN KILLER (Capitol Records Nashville), remained at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 13 consecutive weeks, setting the longest run in the top spot for a group since 1959. To preview and purchase “Girl Crush” and Pain Killer, click HERE.

Little Big Town is the three-time, reigning ACM Vocal Group of the Year, the four-time, reigning CMA Vocal Group of the Year, and was recently awarded with the ACM Crystal Milestone Award. Little Big Town is currently on the Kill The Lights Tour with Luke Bryan, with upcoming dates in Toledo, Ohio; State College, Pa. and Charlottesville, Va.

 For more information, please visit www.LittleBigTown.com.

Sam Hunt has been added to the list of performers at this year’s American Country Countdown Awards next month. He’ll be joined by Martina McBride, Kelsea Ballerini, Cam, Dan + Shay and Cole Swindell. Previously announced performers include Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line.

Luke is leading the list with seven nominations, while Sam follows with five.

The 2nd Annual ACC Awards will air live from The Forum in Inglewood, California May 1st beginning at 8pm ET/PT delayed.

The title of Billy Currington’s latest album, Summer Forever, reflects his thoughts about the warmer months – he really wishes it could be summer year-round.

“The thing I like most about summer is being warm. I mean, I’m a big fan of not being cold,” he laughs. “I grew up in the warmth. I grew up in the sunshine most of the year. We probably had one month of some cool weather down in South Georgia. So, every time summer comes, I think beach. I think lakes, whatever; just being outside.”

Billy’s latest single is “It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To,” which is making its way up the country charts.

Four-time Entertainer of the Year winner Luke Bryan took his Kill The Lights Tour back on the road this past weekend after a short hiatus to co-host the ACM Awards on April 3rd in Las Vegas.

All three weekend concerts sold out including the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York, where Luke set a record with the largest single day country concert attendance and the largest single day country concert gross in the venue’s history.

During the tour break, Luke was named the Country Artist of the Year at the iHeart Radio Music Awards, also held on April 3, and dominated as the most-nominated artist with seven category nods for the upcoming American Country Countdown Awards set for May 1.

Luke’s Kill The Lights Tour resumes this weekend in Toledo and will go on to play six stadiums concerts before wrapping in the fall.

The Georgia native is making his way up the country charts with his latest single, “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day,” which is from his latest album, Kill the Lights.

2016 Kill The Lights Tour:

4-14                 Toledo, OH                 The Huntington Center

4-15                 State College, PA       Bryce Jordan Center

4-16                 Charlottesville, VA     John Paul Jones Arena

4-20                 Missoula, MT              Adams Center

4-21                 Missoula, MT              Adams Center

4-22                 Bozeman, MT             Brick Breeden Fieldhouse

4-23                 Bozeman, MT             Brick Breeden Fieldhouse

4-29                 Concord, CA              Concord Pavilion

4-30                 Fresno, CA                  Save Mart Center

5-1                   Indio, CA                    Stagecoach

5-12                 Omaha, NE                 CenturyLink Center

5-13                 Wichita, KS                INTRUST Bank Arena

5-14                 Oklahoma City, OK    Chesapeake Energy Arena

5-20                 Atlanta, GA                Lakewood Amphitheater

5-21                 Atlanta, GA                Lakewood Amphitheater

5-27                 Baton Rouge, LA       Bayou Country Superfest*

5-29                 Daytona Beach, FL     Country 500

6-2                   Holmdel, NJ                P.N.C. Bank Arts Center

6-3                   Atlantic City, NJ         Boardwalk Hall

6-4                   Hershey, PA                Hershey Park Stadium

6-9                   Virginia Beach, VA    Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach

6-10                 Washington, DC         Jiffy Lube Live

6-11                 Washington, DC         Jiffy Lube Live

6-17                 Oshkosh, WI               Country USA*

6-19                 Columbus, OH            Buckeye Country Superfest*

6-24                 Toronto, ON               Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

6-25                 Toronto, ON               Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

7-7                   Milwaukee, WI           Summerfest*

7-8                   Indianapolis, IN          Klipsch Music Center

7-9                   Indianapolis, IN          Klipsch Music Center

7-15                 Boston, MA                Gillette Stadium***

7-16                 Boston, MA                Gillette Stadium***

7-17                 Bangor, ME                Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion

7-21                 Scranton, PA               The Pavilion at Montage Mountain

7-22                 Pittsburgh, PA            First Niagara Pavilion

7-23                 Pittsburgh, PA            First Niagara Pavilion

7-29                 Philadelphia, PA         BB&T Pavilion

7-30                 Philadelphia, PA         BB&T Pavilion

7-31                 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center

8-11                 Cleveland, OH            Blossom Music Center

8-12                 Cleveland, OH             Blossom Music Center

8-13                 Cincinnati, OH            Riverbend Music Center

8-14                 Cincinnati, OH            Riverbend Music Center

8-19                 Minneapolis, MN       U.S. Bank Stadium

8-21                 Calgary, AB                Country Thunder Calgary*

8-25                 Kansas City, MO        Providence Medical Center Amphitheater

8-26                 St. Louis, MO             Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

8-27                 Chicago, IL                Wrigley Field

9-1                   Raleigh, NC                Walnut Creek Amphitheatre

9-2                   Charlotte, NC             PNC Music Pavilion

9-9                   Denver, CO                 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park

9-10                 Denver, CO                 Dick’s Sporting Goods Park

9-15                 Sacramento, CA          Toyota Amphitheatre

9-16                 Mountain View, CA   Shoreline Amphitheatre

9-22                 Phoenix, AZ                Ak-Chin Pavilion

9-30                 Salt Lake City, UT      USANA Amphitheatre

10-1                 Salt Lake City, UT      USANA Amphitheatre

10-22               Arlington, TX            AT&T Stadium ***

10-29               Detroit, MI                 Ford Field

Dates and Cities subject to change

*festival date

**no Little Big Town

***Chris Stapleton joins

For up to date information on Luke, the tour and tickets go to www.lukebryan.com or www.livenation.com.

https://twitter.com/lukebryanonline

https://www.facebook.com/lukebryan

http://instagram.com/lukebryan

Happy Birthday to Vince Gill, who was born on this date in Norman, Oklahoma.

Happy Birthday to Easton Corbin, who was born on this date in Trenton, Florida.

Eric Paslay has been announced as the first performer at the Riverfront Stage during this year’s CMA Music Festival. The news was revealed during a recent visit to the CMA’s office in Nashville. The rest of the performers at Riverfront will be announced on Tuesday (April 12^th). CMA Fest 2016 is scheduled June 9th-12th.

Keith Urban is one of the writers on the song “Falling,” which is American Idol winner Trent Harmon’s debut single. The former A.I. judge co-wrote the song with Dallas Davidson and Brett James.

Kacey Musgraves performed “High Time” from her Pageant Material on The Late Late Show with James Corden last week. Check it out below.

Kacey Musgraves is set to perform on Record Store Day Saturday (April 16^th) at Lunchbox Records in Charlotte, North Carolina. Other artists are set to perform at different stores around the nation, including Bonnie Raitt, Metallica and Mumford & Sons.

Dierks Bentley is swimming up the country charts with his latest single, “Somewhere on a Beach,” from his upcoming album, Black, set for release this spring. Raised in Arizona, Dierks and his family often went to Southern California to hit the beach, and he still tries to hit the sandy terrain with his family quite often.

“My favorite beach is the closest beach. I mean, I’m not picky. [laughs] Whatever’s the closest beach, that’s my fave,” says Dierks. “Now we go down to like Destin [Florida], that’s close to us here; Gulf of Mexico. Mexico itself, I mean gosh, the whole Playa del Carmen area is amazing. I got married in Cabo San Lucas, so I definitely love the beach.”

Dierks is looking forward to turning his upcoming summer tour to “Somewhere on a Beach.” The trek, which also features Randy Houser and Cam, kicks off May 12th in Holmdel, New Jersey.

In 2012 on April 10th, Keith Urban was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry by pal (and his All for the Hall co-host) Vince Gill.

The May 6th release of Keith Urban’s RIPCORD already features a virtual who’s who of writers and co-producers, but now two Grammy Award-winning artists, Carrie Underwood and Pitbull, have officially been confirmed as featured guests.

“Sun Don’t Let Me Down,” co-produced by Nile Rodgers, busbee and Urban, “was basically finished,” said Urban.  “But there was this musical breakdown about half-way into the song that we were going to leave, and then I heard this Pitbull song. I’ve always loved his vocal style and swagger, and in that moment I could hear his voice in the breakdown of the song.  So I called Nile (Rodgers) and asked him if he could send the song to Pitbull.  Thankfully he felt it, spat out a verse, and it was the most incredible feeling hearing him on the track for the first time.  It suited the spirit of the song.”

“The Fighter,” was written and co-produced by busbee and Urban. “Carrie and I toured together a few years ago and every night we’d do a song together,” said Urban.  “I’ve always loved singing with her.  We had written this song, “The Fighter,” that needed a female voice and Carrie’s voice immediately came to mind.  I can’t wait for people to hear it – and hope that we get to do it live.”

RIPCORD pre-orders are currently available at iTunes and Amazon.

RIPCORD Track Listing

1. Gone Tomorrow (Here Today)
2. John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16
3. Wasted Time
4. Habit Of You
5. Sun Don’t Let Me Down (featuring Pitbull)
6. Getting’ In The Way
7. Blue Ain’t Your Color
8. The Fighter (featuring Carrie Underwood)
9. Break On Me
10. Boy Gets A Truck
11. Your Body
12. That Could Still Be Us
13. Worry ‘Bout Nothin’

Urban launches his “ripCORD World Tour 2016” with Brett Eldredge and special guest Maren Morris on June 2nd in Kansas City and thus far will play more than 50 shows in amphitheaters and arenas through the U.S.

For more official Keith Urban news and ticket information go to www.keithurban.net.