Kenny Rogers’ 2016 Christmas Tour to Be His Last
Kenny Rogers will bring one of country music’s longest-running holiday traditions to an end this year, when he wraps up the final show of his annual Christmas & Hits Tour on December 23rd.
Launched in 1981 to help promote his Christmas LP, the first seasonal release of Rogers’ career, the ongoing tour has become not only a convenient way to celebrate his string of holiday albums — including last year’s Once Again It’s Christmas, Rogers’ sixth holiday record — but also a sign of the country icon’s dedication to the road. Since the tour’s inception, he’s never taken a year off, traveling every November for a month’s worth of gigs featuring Christmas standards, carols, newly-written originals and old standbys like “The Gambler.” This year marks the 35th leg of the Christmas & Hits trek, with 16 shows that take Rogers across the Midwest, up the Mid-Atlantic seaboard and into the Northeast. Following the run’s final concert on December 23rd in Westbury, New York, Rogers will pull the plug on his yearly holiday tour, focusing instead on the final months of his two-year farewell tour, dubbed the Gambler’s Last Deal.
Nineties country star Linda Davis, who famously teamed up with Reba McEntire for the Grammy-winning “Does He Love You” in 1993, will join Rogers during his 2016 holiday run. A Nashville institution herself, Davis has a new family album — the religious Love Remains, recorded with her daughter, Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott, and other members of the Davis-Scott clan — on the horizon, with a release date scheduled for July 29th.
Kenny Rogers’ Christmas & Hits Tour dates:
November 25 — Independence, Mo @ Silverstein Eye Centers Arena
November 26 — Branson, Mo. @ The Mansion Theatre
November 27 — Cincinnati @ Taft Theatre
December 2 — La Crosse, WI @ La Crosse Center
December 3 — Green Bay, WI @ Resch Center
December 7 — Norfolk, VA @ Ted Constant Convocation Center
December 8 — Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
December 9 — French Lick, IN @ French Lick Resort Casino
December 10 — Mount Pleasant, MI @ Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort
December 14 — Greensburg, PA @ The Palace Theatre
December 15 — Englewood, NJ @ Bergen Performing Arts Center
December 16 — Uncasville, CN @ Mohegan Sun Arena
December 18 — Reading, PA @ Reading Eagle Theatre at the Santander Arena
December 20 — Verona, NY @ Turning Stone Resort Casino
December 21 — Red Bank, NJ @ Count Basie Theatre
December 23 — Westbury, NY @ NYCB Theatre at Westbury