Country singer Toby Keith [ tickets ] and rocker Ted Nugent [ tickets ]--who got to know each other on a recent USO-sponsored trip to Iraq, where they performed for U.S. troops--are lining up plans to tour together in early 2005.

Five Keith/Nugent shows are confirmed so far, tickets for all of which will hit the market in the coming days. Pre-sale tickets are available to members of Keith's fan club members before they go on sale to the public.

Billboard.com recently reported that about 20 Keith/Nugent dates are in the works for the first quarter of 2005; most shows hadn't been confirmed at press time.

Also on Keith's schedule is a New Year's Eve performance in Nashville; he'll be joined on that bill by fellow country acts Dierks Bentley and Terri Clark. A Feb. 13 show is also set for Tallahassee, FL, to make good on a show that was postponed in October.

Keith is touring behind "Greatest Hits 2," which features 11 tracks from his previous albums and three new tracks. Besides "Stays in Mexico," the new songs include a cover of the James Taylor/Carly Simon duet "Mockingbird" that features Keith's 16-year-old daughter Crystal, and "Go with Her."

Keith has endeared himself to pro-war elements in the U.S. by dubbing a recent album and tour "Shock'N Y'all," a play on the U.S. Defense Department's Iraq-war catch phrase "shock and awe," as well as the pro-war single "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)."

Nugent, meanwhile, has long been a colorful and outspoken supporter of gun and hunting rights, as well as other conservative causes.