Country star Kane Brown books every NBA arena in US for tour

American singer Kane Brown has announced his 'Blessed & Free' tour in the fall, which comes with the underlying assumption that the US will be mostly blessedly COVID-free by the time the outing kicks off in indoor arenas on October 1.

According to Variety, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter, who is a major basketball fan and played the sport in high school, made a point of making sure the 35-city tour is hitting all 29 NBA basketball venues in the U.S. along the way. This marks the first time a country performer has landed in all 29 venues during a single tour.

The 'Be Like That' singer played in the 2020 NBA celebrity all-star game 2020 and hinted at prospects for that at the time. A handful of cities that don't have an NBA team, like Nampa, Idaho, also got lucky enough to get squeezed into the B-ball-loaded schedule.

As reported by Variety, Brown has had six singles reach No. 1 on one of the country charts since he came out of the gate strong five years ago, the most recent being 2019's 'Homesick.' Last year he released a more pop-oriented single, 'Be Like That,' as a collaboration with Swae Lee and Khalid, and the genre-stretching collab reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Joining Brown on the tour are a couple of artists who also have No. 1 country hits under the belt, Jordan Davis (who topped the chart with 2019's 'Slow Dance in a Parking Lot') and Chase Rice (who made it to the top in 2018 with 'Eyes on You'). Davis will play the initial dates on the tour as the middle act, giving up that spot to Rice at the beginning of 2022.

The opening act throughout the entire tour will be presented by the musical band and trio 'Restless Road'. Brown recently spoke to Variety about the group as he announced the trio had been signed to a new label, 1021 Entertainment, he's started up as a joint venture with Sony Nashville.

The tour starts October 1 in Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center. Los Angeles gets the second stop as Brown and company hit the Staples Center, a venue he previously sold out, on October 2. Other dates include a Brooklyn gig on November 5 at Barclays Center, and a return to the New York area on January 15 at Madison Square Garden - neither of which he has headlined before - before the 35-city outing wraps February 4, 2022, at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena.

As reported by Variety, Brown is up for two honours at the Academy of Country Music Awards on April 18, including one for his country-pop crossover project 'Mixtape Vol. 1' and another for his music video 'Worldwide Beautiful.' He's been announced to perform on the CBS telecast as well.

( With inputs from ANI )