Folk-pop legend coming to Alabama: ‘He sings with resonance and plays with grace’
Get ready to be happy, James Taylor fans. The legendary singer-songwriter has announced several new dates for his 2025 tour, including a show in Alabama.
Taylor, 76, is set to perform with his All-Star Band on Sept. 10 at the Coca-Cola Amphitheater in Birmingham. Tiny Habits will open the 7:30 p.m. show.
Tickets go on sale Friday, March 14, at 10 a.m. CT via Live Nation/Ticketmaster, after a round of pre-sales. Prices are $48.50, $68.50, $88.50, $114, $134 and $178.50, according to promoter Live Nation.
Pre-sales start on Tuesday, March 11, at 10 a.m. CT and end on Thursday, March 13, at 10 p.m. CT, according to the ticket listing.
Taylor, a multi-Grammy winner and member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has inspired generations of musicians with folk-pop songs such as “Fire and Rain,” “Sweet Baby James,” “Shower the People,” “Mexico,” “Your Smiling Face,” “Carolina in My Mind,” “Country Road” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).”
“All of his performances are marked by an eloquent simplicity,” Rolling Stone said in a 1969 review. “Mr. Taylor is not kicking out any jams. He seems to be more interested in soothing his troubled mind. In the process he will doubtless soothe a good many heads besides his own. … He sings with resonance and plays with grace; he refuses to let himself get lost in anything that obscures his identity as an artist.”
(Watch Taylor perform “You Can Close Your Eyes” with his son, Henry Taylor, in the video below.)
Taylor has “incorporated all kinds of blues, Brill Building pop, Motown soul and country influences into one of the more unmistakable musical signatures of the rock era,” the Rock Hall website says. “His is a subtle, seductive magic, owing to the sturdy craftsmanship of his songs, the casual, amber warmth and Appalachian nasality of his voice and the utterly unique way he fingerpicks the acoustic guitar.”
Taylor’s tour schedule for this year includes more than 40 dates from May through September. His agenda includes two concerts at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colo., June 13-14; two shows at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass., July 3-4; three performances at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va., Aug. 21-24; and two shows at MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston, Aug. 26-27.
The Birmingham show is the only Alabama stop listed for his 2025 tour. Taylor has played in the state several times before, most recently in 2023. He played three shows here that year, at Oak Mountain Amphitheatre in Pelham, the Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville and The Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach.
Taylor also performed in in Birmingham in 2011 at the BJCC Concert Hall and in 2014 at the Legacy Arena.
“Quality and consistency were on Taylor’s side,” AL.com said in a review of the 2011 concert. “His voice sounded as warm and engaging as ever, although slightly less strong than in years past. His instrumental skills? Fully intact. In fact, it was a pleasure to watch his hands caressing an acoustic guitar in close-up shots on two video screens.”
James Taylor has announced a 2025 concert at Birmingham’s new Coca-Cola Amphitheater. Here, Taylor performs during the Concert for Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.(Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
Taylor’s September concert in Birmingham is a new addition to the lineup for the Coca-Cola Amphitheater, a $46 million concert venue that’s currently under construction.
The Coca-Cola Amphitheater should be ready for the public in June, according to organizers. The 9,380-seat amphitheater — owned by the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex and managed by Live Nation — has confirmed 22 concerts for 2025 thus far, ranging from comedian Matt Rife (June 22) to country star Jason Aldean (Sept. 26).
Shows by Pantera, the Alabama Shakes, Rod Stewart, Jason Isbell, Nelly, Luke Bryan, Dave Matthews Band and Hardy are on the agenda, as well.
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