Kenny Chesney Announces Gillette Stadium Return

Editor’s Note - Information and photo provided by Gillette Stadium.

No Shoes Nation is coming back to Foxborough in 2016

Country music superstar Kenny Chesney announced today he is bringing his Spread the Love Tour to Gillette Stadium in 2016 with a show on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016.

Joining Chesney in Foxborough in 2016 will be multi-platinum, 11-time CMA Award and two-time GRAMMY winner Miranda Lambert and special guests Sam Hunt and Old Dominion.

“Miranda was such an awesome addition in Chicago last summer,” Chesney said in a release. “When I was thinking about what I wanted to do this year, how to keep the energy we had and give the fans something truly great musically, she just made sense. She’s a songwriter, a great singer and she loves music every bit as much as I do. In a stadium, those things matter.”

Chesney has performed at Gillette Stadium more times than any other artist and broke nine attendance records – many his own – on his Big Revival Tour last summer.

“People always want to know about the stadiums,” Chesney said with a laugh, “because it’s a big show, a lot of music and the kind of day people come together and celebrate friendship. We know a lot of people travel to these stadium shows from all over, so for everyone who’s asking, let’s get next year started, right now!”

Chesney and Lambert will be joined by groundbreaking triple CMA Award nominee Hunt, who was nominated for Best New Artist plus Song and Single of the Year for “Take Your Time.” Hunt also wrote Chesney’s pulsating No. 1 hit, “Come Over.”

“The second I heard Sam’s demo for, ‘Come Over,’ I knew he was on to something very unique,” Chesney, who gave Hunt his first cut, said. “Watching him develop as an artist, seeing his songwriting evolve – and knowing how he brings it when he gets on stage makes him a perfect act to come out with us.”

Old Dominion, who returns to Chesney’s opening slot in the talented lineup, are quickly becoming Nashville’s band of songwriters and just celebrated their first No. 1 with “Break Up With Him.” In addition to penning Chesney’s three-week No. 1, “Save It For a Rainy Day,” members of the good-vibe group of musicians have written chart-toppers for Blake Shelton (“Sangria”), The Band Perry (“Better Dig Two”), Tyler Farr (“Guy Walks Into A Bar”) and Dierks Bentley (“Say You Do”).

“There is nothing like the energy of a stadium show,” Chesney said. “Old Dominion kicked the whole summer off last year with the best vibe. If we’re talking about Spread the Love, those guys are all about it. If there’s anything I want to see this summer, it’s that attitude that really defines what’s going on.”

Some of Chesney’s most successful and memorable shows over the years have come at Gillette Stadium.

In fact, Chesney named his New England fan base, “No Shoes Nation,” during an August 2012 show at the stadium and named his 2013 tour after them. To commemorate the origin of “No Shoes Nation,” the Kraft family, prior to Chesney’s 2013 shows in Foxborough, surprised the country music star with a blue and white Super Bowl-like banner that reads, “Gillette Stadium, Birth Place of No Shoes Nation, Established Aug. 25, 2012.” The banner hung inside the stadium for both nights of his Foxborough tour stop in 2013 and continues to greet Chesney whenever he returns to Foxborough.

Public on-sale for the show begins Friday, Nov. 20.