Multiple Grammy and ARIA Award winner Keith Urban, whose eighth studio album Ripcord debuted at #1 in three countries upon its release on May 6, will play in New Zealand for the first time ever on December 3 when he brings his ‘ripCORD WORLD TOUR 2016’ with 7-time Grammy Award winning, multi-platinum superstar Carrie Underwood to Westpac Stadium, Wellington. 
 
Urban said, “I'm so psyched about finally getting to play a real show in the country of my birth. The last time I played music there, I was in a duo playing every weekend at a pub called the DB Onerahi in Whangarei... and I was 17. This is gonna be an amazing feeling!!!!!”
 
Urban’s first worldwide tour in nearly three years, the ‘ripCORD WORLD TOUR 2016’ features an all-new, state-of-the-art stage production, stinging guitar solos and “in-audience performances” that all add to the party-like atmosphere synonymous with the unpredictable two-plus hour Keith Urban concerts. 
 
The ‘ripCORD WORLD TOUR 2016’ kicked off in the US on June 2 to rave reviews. It sees Urban showcasing songs from RIPCORD, including his U.S. #1s ‘Break On Me’ and ‘John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16’, his latest U.S. Top 5 ‘Wasted Time’, as well as many of his U.S. #1s including ‘Long Hot Summer’ and ‘Somebody Like You’.
 
RIPCORD is a 13-track heartfelt collection of songs including ‘The Fighter’, featuring Underwood, and is the result of collaborations with an eclectic group of Award-winning writers and co-producers. They include Jeff Bhasker, busbee, Greg Wells and Nile Rodgers, as well as long-time collaborators Shane McAnally, Ross Copperman, Dann Huff and Nathan Chapman, all of whom worked with Urban on his previous US #1 album Fuse.
 
Debuting at #21 on the NZ Album chart – Urban’s highest ever NZ debut – Ripcord was #1 in Australia on the ARIA Album chart, #1 in the United States on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and #1 in Canada on the Billboard Country chart for two weeks on release. It’s the second consecutive time that Urban has had a #1 album debut in multiple countries, having achieved the same historic milestone with Fuse. Urban has amassed over 16 million album sales worldwide.
 
Joining Keith on the New Zealand leg of his ‘ripCORD WORLD TOUR 2016’ will be Pollstar’s three-time top female country touring artist, Carrie Underwood. She just wrapped the spring leg of the biggest tour of her career, ‘The Storyteller Tour – Stories in the Round’. The arena tour rolled in to 47 cities and seven different countries, playing to nearly 600,000 people since the tour launched in January.  This tour date will be Carrie’s first concert in New Zealand.
 
Keith Urban
 
Saturday 3rd December: Westpac Stadium, Wellington

Tickets via Ticketek from Friday June 24

The Visa Entertainment PRE-SALE, for Visa cardholders starts at 9am on Wednesday June 22. Head to www.visaentertainment.co.nz for more details on how to purchase.