Print-friendly Version

Return to the full version

Taylor Swift firms up headlining tour plans

Rising country/crossover star Taylor Swift has confirmed venues for most of the cities on tap for her impending debut headlining tour.

The 19-year-old singer/songwriter had released a list of destinations for the trek in January, with the majority of venues still to be determined. Along with naming most of the arenas and amphitheaters for the tour, which officially kicks off April 23 in Evansville, IN, Swift also firmed up her traveling schedule with Keith Urban. The first Urban/Swift pair-up will take place June 5 in Cincinnati, and the pair will make nine appearances together in all.

The singer's headlining tour stretches throughout the summer and into October, concluding Oct. 10 in Minneapolis, MN. Joining Swift on the trek will be "American Idol" finalist Kellie Pickler and newcomer Gloriana. Dates are shown below.

"Headlining my own tour is a dream come true!" Swift said last month in a press statement. "This way, I can play more music every night than I ever have before. Having written my own songs, they are all stories in my head, and my goal for this tour is to bring those stories to life."

Swift continues to ride high with her sophomore album, "Fearless," which spent 11 weeks at the top of the US album chart, the tenth longest-running No. 1 album in the history of the Billboard 200 chart, and the most weeks at the top ever for a female country artist.

The release has sold more than 2.4 million copies to date and spawned a slew of radio singles, including "Love Story," "White Horse" and "Fearless," all of which are currently holding spots on Billboard's Pop 100 chart. In all, the album charted seven songs in its debut week alone, tying Swift with Hannah Montana for the most songs by a female artist to make the charts in a single week.

As she did with her 2006 triple-platinum-selling debut, Swift wrote or co-wrote every song on the new album, including seven tracks by herself. She is the first female artist in country music history to taking writing credit on every song of a platinum-selling debut.

The album was nominated earlier this month for an Academy of Country Music Award. Swift was also nominated in the Video of the Year category for "Love Story." The awards ceremony will take place April 5 in Las Vegas.