Nashville, Tenn. — Garth Brooks took a break from touring in 2018 to record new music and, come to find out, plan a stadium tour.
Brooks announced the 2019 tour in a press conference from The Country Music Hall of Fame on Wednesday. However, only St. Louis and Glendale, Ariz., were announced as tour stops. Dates will be revealed later, although the singer said tickets for shows in five cities will be on sale by Christmas. He plans to play 10-to-12 stadiums a year for three years. The Country Music Association's reigning entertainer of the year said he believed a Tennessee concert would be on the itinerary.
Many - but not all - of the concerts will be in college stadiums.
"I can't think of how to make music more fun other than add sports to it," Brooks said, explaining he plans to encourage fans to wear the university's colors to the concerts. "Our music was built for fun and the live stage."
Brooks promised each stadium would a unique experience. As such, he issued a challenge: "I'm going to challenge one person on this planet to come to all 30 shows."
The singer said he would also love to do a one-man residency at Ryman Auditorium -- floating the idea of five shows a year. However, the concept isn't confirmed.
The "Friends in Low Places" singer concluded his three-year arena tour with multiple sold-out shows at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena in December. The tour was Brooks's official comeback after more than a decade of retirement from country music's touring circuit. Over the course of the tour's run, Brooks sold more than 6 million tickets.
Brooks said he was taking special care to put four years between shows in each city.
In addition to the stadium tour, Brooks' new single "All Day Long" from a forthcoming album is nearing the Top 10 at country radio. Brooks will release the next installment of his anthology — "Anthology Part III 'Live'" — on Nov. 20.