Alan Jackson & George Strait Announce 2026 Co-Headlining Tour “One Last Ride”

A soul-stirring revival that puts tradition back at center stage—full dates and cities below

NASHVILLE — Dust off your boots and clear your calendars: two pillars of modern country, Alan Jackson and George Strait, are saddling up for a 2026 stadium-and-arenas run dubbed “One Last Ride.” The co-headlining tour, imagined as a living love letter to neo-traditional country, will sweep across North America from late spring through fall with a set built on heartland storytelling, steel-kissed arrangements, and the sort of unhurried showmanship that has always separated legends from everyone else.

In an era of pyro and pop crossovers, “One Last Ride” promises the opposite: fiddle and steel out front, songs first, spotlight second. The production brief is simple—church-pew harmonies, AM-radio warmth, and twin bands that can swing, shuffle, and cry on a dime.

“We wanted to make a tour that feels like Saturday night and Sunday morning at the same time,” Jackson said with a grin in a statement. “Fiddle sawin’, Telecasters twangin’, and lyrics you can live your life by.”

Strait put it even plainer: “Good songs, good players, good people. That’s the show.”

Why this matters (and why now)

Both artists have long since entered the “statue” phase of their careers—names etched into the Mount Rushmore of country. Yet each still commands a cross-generational audience: ranch kids and Opry lifers shoulder-to-shoulder with twenty-somethings who learned these choruses from their parents’ mixtapes. With radio leaning ever shinier, the pairing reads as both celebration and course correction—a friendly reminder that goosebumps don’t require lasers when you’ve got a lyric and a lonesome steel line.

Insiders say “One Last Ride” sprang from a handful of quiet, after-hours jams last year outside Nashville, where the two traded verses and swapped road tales until dawn. When the guitars finally cooled, someone said, “If we don’t take this to the people, we’re crazy.” The phone calls started the next morning.

The show: two bands, one songbook

Unlike most co-bills, this isn’t a baton pass. The night unfolds in three chapters:

1. Chapter One: The Foundations – A 50-minute opening set rotates nightly between Jackson or Strait, with the “opener” leaning deep into catalog roots. Expect AJ to dust off “Here in the Real World,” “Midnight in Montgomery,” and bar-room burners like “Chattahoochee.” When Strait starts the night, picture “Amarillo by Morning,” “The Chair,” and “Troubadour” given the kind of patient space they deserve.
2. Chapter Two: The Dance Floor – A joint acoustic circle at center stage: two stools, two guitars, a couple of high stools for the fiddle and steel players. They’ll trade verses on classics they didn’t write but always loved—Haggard, Jones, Loretta—and slip in a surprise new co-write or two born from those late-night jams.
3. Chapter Three: One Last Ride – The full bands return together for a closing run stitched from each man’s biggest anthems, arranged as medleys and call-and-response duets. The finale—built on a heartbeat shuffle and stacked harmonies—lands where both artists began: a simple story sung plainly enough to live forever.

The musical directors have one rule: if it doesn’t serve the lyric, it doesn’t make the set. That means fiddle and steel right up front, twin Telecasters playing off each other instead of over each other, brushes on the snare when a whisper hits harder than a thump, and room for silence—because a held breath can be as dramatic as a light cue.

Design & production: nostalgia without cosplay

The stage is a horseshoe, bringing the band within handshake distance of fans on the floor. Screens are warmer than razor-sharp—grain-textured, filmic palettes that make even the nosebleeds feel like the front pew. Scenic elements nod to the Texas dancehall and Georgia roadhouse—weathered wood risers, jukebox glow, neon in cursive—but nothing feels theme-park. It’s lived-in, not dressed-up.

VIP offerings skip the velvet rope for something truer to the cause: “Songwriter Hour” pre-shows where touring band members and a rotating cast of Nashville writers break down arrangements, answer questions, and play the verses that never made the record. A portion of every VIP ticket goes to independent venues and music-education nonprofits in each tour city, to “keep the backroom stages alive,” as Jackson put it.

The pledge: local hands, lasting impact

Every stop partners with a community food bank and veterans service org, with Jackson and Strait covering all volunteer shifts from the band and crew on load-in day. Merch booths will feature limited-run posters designed by local artists, profits earmarked for school music programs. “We can leave more than footprints,” Strait said. “We can leave instruments.”

Ticketing that respects fans

In a nod to fans who’ve been burned by surge pricing, both camps committed to transparent tiers and face-value exchange inside the official platform. No dynamic pricing, no bots advantage, and a two-ticket presale cap for fan-club members to keep secondary market froth low. A “Back Forty” ticket—upper-deck, honest sightline, under $50—will be held in every venue. If a show sells out, a lottery for $25 “ranch seats” opens two weeks prior, paid at will-call with ID.

2026 “One Last Ride” — Dates & Cities (fictional schedule)

MAY
• May 29 — AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
• May 31 — NRG Stadium, Houston, TX

JUNE
• Jun 5 — Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA
• Jun 7 — Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
• Jun 12 — Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
• Jun 14 — Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
• Jun 20 — PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC (two-night shed special)
• Jun 21 — PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, NC

JULY
• Jul 3 — Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
• Jul 5 — U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
• Jul 10 — Empower Field at Mile High, Denver, CO
• Jul 12 — Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
• Jul 18 — SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
• Jul 25 — Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA

AUGUST
• Aug 1 — Lumen Field, Seattle, WA
• Aug 8 — Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, AB
• Aug 10 — McMahon Stadium, Calgary, AB
• Aug 16 — BC Place, Vancouver, BC

SEPTEMBER
• Sep 6 — Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
• Sep 8 — MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
• Sep 13 — Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
• Sep 20 — Highmark Stadium, Buffalo, NY

OCTOBER
• Oct 4 — Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
• Oct 11 — Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
• Oct 18 — GEODIS Park, Nashville, TN (Finale Weekend — two nights)
• Oct 19 — GEODIS Park, Nashville, TN

Cities and dates subject to change; a limited second Nashville weekend may be added based on demand.

What they’ll play (and what they won’t fake)

No medley mush here. Expect full-length cuts and faithful keys—no chasing radio trends or time-crunch hacks. Both singers insist on singing the verses fans know by heart, even when that means stretching the runtime. The long-rumored duet cut—a two-step shuffle with a bittersweet hook about the road taking as much as it gives—will likely surface during the acoustic circle. Working title around camp is “Miles Don’t Lie.”

The bands are built for feel over flash: triple-fiddle option, dual steel rotation on select dates, and upright bass for the acoustic segment. Listen for a few production Easter eggs—twin harmonica lines on “Give It Away,” a tack-piano sneak under “Remember When,” and a brush-driven waltz coda that might just fold “Am I Blue” into “I Cross My Heart.”

The audience they’re courting

This tour isn’t just for the old guard. It’s aimed at three generations at once: the grandparents who two-stepped to “The Chair,” the parents who slow-danced to “I Don’t Even Know Your Name,” and their kids who learned those choruses riding shotgun. Line-dance tutorials will pop up on the concourse pre-show; “Story Booths” let fans record a 30-second memory that may roll on screens before the encore.

In a clever twist, a handful of emerging neo-traditionalists will rotate as openers in the sheds and arenas—young pickers with baritone voices and boot-scuffed songs. The directive from the headliners: “Bring us the storytellers.”

The subtext: a mission in plain sight

You can call it nostalgia, but the architects insist it’s more urgent than that. At stake is the idea of country music as a craft, where a lyric can sit on the porch and still carry to the back fence. “We’re not trying to prove anything,” Jackson said. “We’re trying to remember something.”

Strait added: “If a song can get quiet enough, it can get inside you. That’s the job.”

How to get tickets

Fan-club presales open Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 10 a.m. local with a two-ticket cap. Public on-sale begins Friday, Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. local via the tour’s official site and venue partners. Face-value exchanges open 30 days before each show; $25 “ranch seats” lottery opens two weeks prior.

Final word

“One Last Ride” is less a victory lap than a revival meeting—a chance to stand in a room with tens of thousands of strangers and remember why a three-minute story can still feel like home. It’s the sound of twin baritones and twin steels reminding the industry—and the audience—that country music breathes best when it’s unhurried, unvarnished, and sung by men who’ve lived it.

When the houselights drop and the first Tele twang shivers the rafters, you’ll feel the mission statement in your ribs: no fireworks, just fire. And when the last harmony fades over a field of Stetsons, you’ll know exactly what this ride was for—to bring the song back to the center and let it speak.

Saddle up.