Blake Shelton has been busy making plans. On the heels of revealing his upcoming Las Vegas residency and his departure from longtime record label Warner Music Nashville, Shelton announced plans for his Friends & Heroes Tour 2025 on Thursday.
Shelton is returning to his popular friends and heroes format, inviting his musical friends, heroes, and favorite up-and-comers out on the road to share the stage.
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“I love it so much that I get depressed when I get away from it, that’s the truth,” Shelton told American Songwriter.
The beloved Voice coach’s Friends & Heroes Tour 2025 will include himself along with Craig Morgan, Deana Carter, Trace Adkins, and very special guest and Voice alum Emily Ann Roberts. Shelton will launch the run February 27 at Lexington, Kentucky’s Rupp Arena. The one-dozen-date tour will conclude on March 22 at Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pennsylvania.
The tour has percolated since Shelton’s 2023 tour when his manager, Narvel Blackstock, told the singer it was time to think ahead. He wasn’t thrilled.
“We were sitting backstage one night and he said, ‘Well, what do you want to do next year?’” Shelton recalled. “And it was like, ‘Oh my God, Are We Already talking about this?’”
Blake Shelton: ‘Oh My God, are we already Talking About This?’
Blackstock told him he needed to start planning so tour promoters could properly do their job.
“I said, ‘Well, man, I got to be honest,’” Shelton said. “I go, ‘I got spoiled on the Friends and Heroes thing because as a fan, I can’t think of a cooler concert to go to than you’re buying a ticket and you’re getting to see four or five artists in one night. When the main show starts, you’re not only getting to see four artists, but you’re also getting to see ’em do biggest hits.”
Shelton also loved that he’s exposing his sold-out arena crowds to his country music icons and their hit songs.
“It’s a very powerful moment,” Shelton said. “As a fan, to sit there and go, ‘Holy shit, Trace Adkins just popped up out of that stage and sang ‘Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,’ ‘You’re Gonna Miss This’ and ‘Ladies Love Country Boys.’ Talk about leaving everybody wanting more, and that kind of energy lasts the entire night.”
Shelton and Adkins’ friendship dates back to before their 2009 hit “Hillbilly Bone.” His relationship with Morgan possibly goes back further.
“Craig and I have been friends since, literally, since 2001 when I first came onto the scene,” Shelton said. “We started running into each other at music industry events and stuff. We realized instantly that we were going to be buddies from then on. We just have way too much in common.”
Blake Shelton Tickets
And Shelton feels like Carter’s “Strawberry Wine” is the defining country song of a generation.
“I said, ‘Do you think we could even get her?’” Shelton said. “And he goes, ‘Man, I don’t know. I have no idea.’ And so he started making some calls. We were able to get Deana Carter, which blows my mind.
Tickets for Shelton’s Friends & Heroes Tour 2025 begin to go on sale 10 a.m. Tuesday with the exclusive fan presale, which will end 10 p.m. September 12. Fans can register for the fan presale HERE. The general on-sale will start on Friday, September 13 at 10 a.m. local time HERE.
FRIENDS & HEROES 2025 TOUR DATES:
February 27 – Lexington, KY / Rupp Arena
February 28 – Knoxville, TN / Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center
March 1 – Greensboro, NC / Greensboro Coliseum
March 6 – Newark, NJ / Prudential Center
March 7 – Boston, MA / TD Garden
March 8 – Albany, NY / MVP Arena
March 13 – Greenville, SC / Bon Secours Wellness Arena
March 14 – North Charleston, SC / North Charleston Coliseum
March 15 – Atlanta, GA / State Farm Arena
March 20 – Baltimore, MD / CFG Bank Arena
March 21 – Uncasville, CT / Mohegan Sun Arena
March 22 -State College, PA / Bryce Jordan Center
(Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for Big Barrel)
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