BLAKE SHELTON TAKES HIS “FRIENDS & HEROES” ON THE ROAD
FOR 2019 HEADLINING TOUR
COMING TO AMALIE ARENA ON MARCH 8, 2019
Tickets on sale Friday, November 9 at 10:00 AM
Tampa, FL – From his team members on The Voice to veteran country artists, Blake Shelton has a history of demonstrating his support for the people in whom he believes; when he realized that fans across the country needed to hear music from his friends and heroes, he decided to bring them all out on the road. “Friends & Heroes 2019” will kick off on February 14 in Oklahoma City, OK and will span 18 dates across the country, one being a date at Tampa’s AMALIE Arena on Friday, March 8, 2019 at 7:00 PM. Very special guest Lauren Alaina joins Shelton for the run along with special appearances by country icons the Bellamy Brothers, John Anderson and Trace Adkins.
“I’m really excited about my tour because it’s taking where I came from and the music I listened to growing up, and actually introducing it to a whole new audience,” Shelton said. “I feel like a lot of people might know the Bellamy Brothers’ and John Anderson’s music, but maybe they’re not familiar with who they are as artists. I think that this is going to be a great opportunity for the country music fan base to be re-introduced to these guys and, selfishly, I’m just excited to share the stage with them! It’ll be great to have Trace back out on the road with us, and I can’t wait for one of my newer friends and heroes, Lauren Alaina, to blow these crowds away.”
Tickets and VIP experiences (information below) for “Friends & Heroes 2019” will go on sale November 9 at 10:00 AM. Blake Shelton Fan Club members and American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Friday, November 2 at 10:00 AM local through Thursday, November 8 at 10:00 PM local.
VIP experiences will be available throughout the 2019 tour with premium perks ranging from a great seat on the floor to exclusive merchandise. The BS’ers VIP Lounge will also return, including the opportunity to pose in Shelton’s chair from The Voice, plus he will play a private acoustic set in select cities. Blake Shelton VIP Experience details are available at https://www.cidentertainment.com/events/blake-shelton-tour/.
Fans can hear Shelton on country radio with his Top 15 and climbing single “Turnin’ Me On.” The “smoldering, mid-tempo number about a seductive flame” (Rolling Stone) follows smash hits “I Lived It” and “I’ll Name The Dogs,” the latter of which notched him the 25th No. 1 single of his career and recently earned its RIAA Gold certification. Shelton has already taken the single to major television stages on Late Night with Seth Meyers, TODAY, the 2018 CMT Awards and more. He is also back as a coach for his 15th season on NBC’s The Voice.
“Turnin’ Me On” hails from Shelton’s chart-topping Warner Bros. / Warner Music Nashville album Texoma Shore. In the week following album launch, he became the first artist in Country Aircheck / Mediabase history to have six songs chart simultaneously. It became his sixth record to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and marked his 11th all-genre Top 10.
ABOUT BLAKE SHELTON
Country Music Association’s 2012 “Entertainer of the Year,” five-time Male Vocalist of the Year winner and GRAMMY nominee Blake Shelton continues to add to his superstar status. His most recent album Texoma Shore became his sixth record to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and marked his 11th all-genre Top 10. Texoma Shore features tracks including “I Lived It” and “I’ll Name The Dogs,” a romantic tune that boasts more than 115 million streams and marked his 25th No. 1 song. His current hit, “Turnin’ Me On,” is the project’s third single and was most-added upon impact at country radio. In the week following album launch, Shelton became the first artist in Country Aircheck / Mediabase history to have six songs chart simultaneously. Texoma Shore follows 2016’s Gold-certified If I’m Honest, the best-selling country album release of the year, which spawned three chart-topping songs and earned him a No. 1 on both the Billboard Top Country Albums and the all-genre Top Album Sales charts.
A member of the Grand Ole Opry, Shelton has earned a host of honors throughout his career including 20 ACM nominations and both the male and overall Video of the Year trophies at the 2018 CMT Awards. As a coach for the Emmy Award-winning television show The Voice, Shelton is a six-time champion, most recently with his contestant Chloe Kohanski. Off stage, Shelton has teamed up with Ryman Hospitality to open a string of Ole Red entertainment restaurant venues, a nod to his 2001 hit of the same name.
The first location in his hometown of Tishomingo, OK opened in September 2017, while the space on Nashville’s lower Broadway hosted a week-long grand opening in June of 2018. Locations in Gatlinburg, TN and Orlando, FL are due to follow.
ABOUT LAUREN ALAINA
Georgia native Lauren Alaina captured America’s hearts when she competed on Season 10 of American Idol. In 2017, Lauren followed up her No. 1 debuting first album, Wildflower, with the release of the critically-acclaimed Road Less Traveled. The album landed on multiple end-of-year “Best Of” lists including Billboard, Rolling Stone and Amazon, and it became the top-streamed female country album release of the year. Praised as “full of life lessons and uplift” (PEOPLE), the collection of 12 songs all written by the young star includes Lauren’s first No. 1 hit, title track “Road Less Traveled.” The “sassy Southerner with killer pipes” (PARADE) has shared the stage with superstars including Jason Aldean, Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Martina McBride. Lauren recently joined Cole Swindell and Dustin Lynch on the Reason to Drink Another Tour.
Lauren is this year’s ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year and performed on the April 15 broadcast live from Las Vegas. She was also nominated for ACM Vocal Event of the Year for “What Ifs,” the double-platinum-selling No. 1 collaboration with her childhood friend, Kane Brown. Lauren is one of CMT’s Next Women of Country and she received her first CMT Music Award for Breakthrough Video of the Year with her No. 1 smash “Road Less Traveled,” This year she received her second CMT Music Award for Collaborative Video of the Year, with Kane Brown. In addition to performing on the 51st Annual CMA Awards, 2017 saw Lauren earning nominations for CMA New Artist of the Year, several Teen Choice Awards and Radio Disney Music Awards. In 2018, Lauren is again nominated for CMA New Artist of the Year, and is the reigning Breakout Artist of the Year for the Nashville Business Journal. Her current single, “Ladies of the ‘90s” is at country radio now.
ABOUT BELLAMY BROTHERS
Howard and David continue to prove that the trail they’ve ridden to fame has been as unique as their music itself—music that is now celebrating more than 40 years of success. The road that started on the pop music charts in the ‘70’s, took a winding turn into country music in the ‘80’s, paving the way for duos to come, such as Brooks & Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, Big & Rich and The Judds. “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me),” originally scrawled on a dinner napkin by David, rocketed them to the top of the country charts the way “Let Your Love Flow,” had done in the pop market just a few years earlier. It proved to be the first of a string of 14 No. 1 singles in the U.S. alone. They’re the only U.S. country music act who’ve toured in India, Sri Lanka, New Caledonia and Qatar. The Bellamy Brothers hold the record in both the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and the Country Music Association Awards (CMA) for the most duo nominations. Numerous Grammy nods have also been directed toward the brothers. The Bellamys are also opening up their lives to television audiences with their new reality show, “Honky Tonk Ranch.” Each episode of “Honky Tonk Ranch” captivates viewers by the unpredictable misadventures the Bellamys face while balancing their globe-trotting touring schedule while running their sprawling family ranch in south Florida. “Honky Tonk Ranch” is executive produced by David Bellamy and directed, shot and edited by Derrek Kupish, CEO/founder of dkupish productions. “Honky Tonk Ranch” airs Sundays at 8:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. CT on The Cowboy Channel. For more information on Honky Tonk Ranch, visit honkytonkranchtv.com. For additional tour dates, merchandise and more, visit bellamybrothers.com
ABOUT JOHN ANDERSON
The story of John Anderson is the true-to-life, yet larger-than-life, saga of one of the most dramatic career turn-arounds of the 1990’s.It’s the story of just reward for a singer who originally took country music by storm and helped keep it true to its roots back in the early ’80’s. His memorable hits from that musical era included “Wild and Blue,” “I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal,” “1959,” “I Just Came Home To Count The Memories,” “Black Sheep” and “Swingin’.” “Straight Tequila Night,” the lead-off single from 1992’s Seminole Wind went to number one across the board on every country chart, and spawned another run of hits in the decade to follow such as “Money In The Bank,” “I’ve Got It Made,” “I Wish I Could Have Been There,” “Let Go Of The Stone,” “Bend It ‘Til It Breaks,” “Mississippi Moon” and “Somebody Slap Me.” John Anderson… an influence to many of today’s country artists, a colorful character and truly a country music treasure!
ABOUT TRACE ADKINS
Towering baritone Trace Adkins has sold more than 11 million albums and charted more than 20 singles in his 25 years in Nashville, a remarkable run for one of country music’s most easily identifiable stars. The Louisiana native recently released his 12th studio album, Something’s Going On, on BBR Music Group / Wheelhouse Records. A three-time GRAMMY Award nominee, Adkins has won three Academy of Country Music Awards, including the 2009 Single of the Year Award for “You’re Gonna Miss This” and Vocal Event of the Year with Blake Shelton for “Hillbilly Bone” in 2010. The Grand Ole Opry member is also an author and spokesman for the Wounded Warrior Project and The American Red Cross, for whom he raised more than $1.5 million dollars as winner of NBC’s All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. In recent years, Adkins has performed for our service members across 12 USO Tours. In his 2007 autobiography, A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck, Adkins recounted his rise to fame, brushes with death, and battles with personal demons. Adkins has also acted in multiple films and television shows, playing a tough-as-nails biker in The Lincoln Lawyer (starring Matthew McConaughey), a desperate father in Deepwater Horizon (starring Mark Wahlberg) and a wise oracle of a tattoo artist in the family friendly film Moms’ Night Out (starring Patricia Heaton, Sean Astin, Sarah Drew). His most recent role was that of MercyMe’s real-life manager, Brickell, in the box office smash “I Can Only Imagine.” The film was the third biggest selling movie on its opening weekend in America. For tour dates and more information, visit www.traceadkins.com or on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @TraceAdkins.
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TICKETS: Tickets for this event go on sale Friday, November 9 at 10:00 AM at the McDonald’s® Ticket Office at AMALIE Arena, Ticketmaster outlets and at Ticketmaster.com. Order tickets by phone by calling 800.745.3000. Ticket prices are $45.25, $85.25 and $125.25. Prices do not include facility fee or service charges. Advanced parking passes are available at Ticketmaster.com or the ticket office. Visit amaliearena.com or call 813.301.2500 for more information.
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