photo credit: Rich Polk, courtesy of the ACMs
May 20, 2024—19x ACM Award-winner Chris Stapleton was the top winner at the 59th Annual ACM Awards with four wins: Album of the Year (Higher, as artist and producer), Male Artist of the Year and Artist-Songwriter of the Year. Stapleton also performed his song, “Think I’m In Love With You,” with surprise special guest Dua Lipa during the live show. Watch/share HERE.
The awards add to yet another landmark year for Stapleton, who took home two awards at the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards, collaborated with Slash (“Oh Well”) and George Strait (“Honky Tonk Hall of Fame”) and released a version of Tom Petty’s “I Should Have Known It” for the forthcoming Tom Petty tribute album. He also recently returned to NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” for the third time as musical guest and performed on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Jennifer Hudson Show.”
The recent appearances celebrate Stapleton’s new album, Higher, which was released this past fall to overwhelming critical acclaim (Mercury Nashville, stream/purchase here). Produced by Dave Cobb, Morgane Stapleton and Chris Stapleton, the album was recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio A and landed on several “Best of 2023” lists including Rolling Stone, Billboard, Esquire, Vul
Known for his electric live performances, the 10x GRAMMY, 16x CMA and 19x ACM Award-winner is in the midst of his extensive “All-American Road Show,” which includes upcoming stops at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl (two nights), Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (two nights), Philadelphia’s Freedom Mortgage Pavilion and Arlington’s Globe Life Field as well as dates across the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. He will also join George Strait for several stadium shows this year. See below for complete tour itinerary.
Critical acclaim for Higher:
“dazzling…the best evidence yet for the way one man’s voice has become synonymous with the very idea of a musical genre”—Rolling Stone
“In an age rife with division, he’s maybe the only thing Americans all agree on…one of the most reliable hit makers in music”—GQ
“Higher puts him where he always really was—in that classic kind of rock and soul, Tom Petty, Eagles, going beyond the confines of the genre”—NPR Music
“his leaps, quavers and evasions of the beat can be traced to Al Green. But Stapleton brings his own drama and grit to the style”—The New York Times
“Stapleton’s enigmatic voice – known for its raw versatility, so anchored in his chosen musical genre with an unusual ability to transcend it – is as present as ever…No one is immune when Stapleton’s textured, bellowing ballads play”—Associated Press
“finds Stapleton pairing an outlaw swagger with some heaven-scraping vocals”—Billboard
“his best project yet…Higher finds Stapleton once again raising his bar. How lucky that we get to watch him continue to climb”—Spin
“one of the most consistent quantities in country music”—Vulture
“certainly suggests that Stapleton is leaning into his strengths as a cross-genre act”
—Consequence “an arena-conquering giant”—Stereogum
“If you want to set the bar, start—as always—with Chris Stapleton”—Hits Daily Double
“it’s an album that casually and expertly defies genre as much as it defies era-specific trends and expectations”—Brooklyn Vegan
“One of country’s modern vocal masters extends a streak of next-level artistry…his growling grace and understated charm remain in fine form over 14 tracks, as a future Hall of Famer climbs on”—Nashville Lifestyles
One of the country’s most respected and beloved musicians, Stapleton was named Entertainer of the Year at last year’s 58th ACM Awards—resulting in a prestigious ACM Triple Crown Award—and was named Male Vocalist of the Year for the seventh time at the 57th CMA Awards this past fall, breaking his own record for most wins ever in the category. Additionally, he performed the National Anthem at 2023’s Super Bowl LVII and has collaborated in recent years with Adele, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Justin Timberlake, P!nk, Sheryl Crow, Santana and many more.
Higher follows 2020’s acclaimed Starting Over, which won three awards at the 67th Annual GRAMMYs: Best Country Album, Best Country Solo Performance (“You Should Probably Leave”) and Best Country Song (“Cold”) in addition to earning Album of the Year honors at both the CMA and ACM Awards. Called a “a sure-footed masterpiece” by the Associated Press, the album landed on “Best of 2020” lists at NPR Music, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Esquire, Vulture, The Tennessean and The New York Times, who declared, “Chris Stapleton’s roar isn’t designed to scare you off. It’s regal, an announcement of an alpha figure asserting his primacy…on this, his fourth album, the thrill is back.” Prior to Starting Over, Stapleton released a pair of Platinum-certified releases in 2017—From A Room: Volume 1 and From A Room: Volume 2—as well as his x5 Platinum breakthrough solo debut album in 2015, Traveller.
In addition to their work as musicians, the Stapletons are founders of the Outlaw State of Kind charitable fund, which supports a variety of causes that are close to their heart. Stapleton also recently unveiled his new Traveller Whiskey, a first-of-its-kind collaboration created in partnership with Buffalo Trace Distillery’s Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley.
HIGHER TRACK LIST
1. What Am I Gonna Do
2. South Dakota
3. Trust
4. It Takes A Woman
6. Think I’m In Love With You
7. Loving You On My Mind
8. White Horse
9. Higher
10. The Bottom
11. The Day I Die
12. Crosswind
13. Weight Of Your World
14. Mountains Of My Mind
CHRIS STAPLETON CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
May 22—Rapid City, SD—The Monument^ (SOLD OUT)
May 24—Sioux Falls, SD—Denny Sanford PREMIER Center^
May 25—Ames, IA—Jack Trice Stadium‡ May 31—Cleveland, OH—Blossom Music Center^
June 1—Charlotte, NC—Bank of America Stadium‡ June 2—Lexington, KY—Railbird Festival
June 6—Philadelphia, PA—Freedom Mortgage Pavilion#
June 7—Bristow, VA—Jiffy Lube Live#
June 8—East Rutherford, NJ—MetLife Stadium‡ June 12—Kansas City, MO—T-Mobile Center~
June 13—Ridgedale, MO—Thunder Ridge Nature Arena~
June 15—Arlington, TX—Globe Life Field^^
June 26—Los Angeles, CA—Hollywood Bowl** (SOLD OUT)
June 27—Los Angeles, CA—Hollywood Bowl**
June 29—Salt Lake City, UT—Rice-Eccles Stadium‡ July 11—Buffalo, NY—Darien Lake Amphitheater#
July 12—Pittsburgh, PA—The Pavilion at Star Lake#
July 13—Detroit, MI—Ford Field‡ July 18—Toledo, OH—Huntington Center#
July 19—Columbus, OH—Schottenstein Center#
July 20—Chicago, IL—Soldier Field‡ July 25—Nampa, ID—Ford Idaho Center Arena†† (SOLD OUT)
July 26—Portland, OR—RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater††
July 27—Seattle, WA—T-Mobile Park‡‡
August 1—Gilford, NH—BankNH Pavilion**
August 2—Gilford, NH—BankNH Pavilion** (SOLD OUT)
August 3—Gilford, NH—BankNH Pavilion**
August 9—Nashville, TN—Bridgestone Arena++
August 10—Nashville, TN—Bridgestone Arena++
August 21—Birmingham, AL—The Legacy Arena at the BJCC**
August 22—Little Rock, AR—Simmons Bank Arena**
August 24—Houston, TX—Minute Maid Park## October 4-6—Austin, TX—Austin City Limits Festival October 11-13—Austin, TX—Austin City Limits Festival October 16—Manchester, England—AO Arena~~ (SOLD OUT) October 17—Glasgow, Scotland—OVO Hydro Arena~~ (SOLD OUT) October 20—Dublin, Ireland—3Arena~~ (SOLD OUT) October 22—Birmingham, England—Utilita Arena~~ (SOLD OUT) October 23—London, England—The O2~~ (SOLD OUT) December 7—Las Vegas, NV—Allegiant Stadium‡ February 25, 2025—Melbourne, Australia—Rod Laver Arena% February 26, 2025—Melbourne, Australia—Rod Laver Arena% February 28, 2025—Brisbane, Australia—Brisbane Entertainment Centre% March 1, 2025—Brisbane, Australia—Brisbane Entertainment Centre% March 4, 2025—Sydney, Australia—Qudos Bank Arena% March 5, 2025—Sydney, Australia—Qudos Bank Arena% March 7, 2025—Auckland, New Zealand—Spark Arena% March 8, 2025—Auckland, New Zealand—Spark Arena% ‡with George Strait and special guest Little Big Town
+with special guests Grace Potter and Nikki Lane
^with special guests Marcus King and The War and Treaty
#with special guests Marcus King and Nikki Lane
~with special guests Marcus King and Allen Stone
**with special guests Grace Potter and Allen Stone
††with special guests Nikki Lane and Allen Stone
‡‡with special guests Willie Nelson and Family and Sheryl Crow
++with special guests Marty Stuart and Nikki Lane
^^with special guests Tedeschi Trucks Band and Marcus King
##with special guests Miranda Lambert and Grace Potter ~~with special guest Mary Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives %with special guest Marcus King
Story: Ralph Greco, Jr.
Ralph Greco, Jr. is the devilishly clever nom de plume of professional writer/musician Ralph Greco who lives in the wilds of suburban New Jersey. He is also a podcast co-host, but as everyone has a podcast these days, this fact is of very little consequence.Ralph can be reached by writing ralphiedawriter@gmail.com |