Chris Stapleton has not announced any concerts in Australia or New Zealand for 2027. As of 9 October 2026 there is no tour, festival booking or one-off show on the calendar in either country, and the 2026 dates of his All-American Road Show are all in North America, running through to Kansas City on 10 October 2026.
Australian and New Zealand fans waited a long time for him. Stapleton's first tour down under came only in February and March 2025, ten years after his debut solo album Traveller made him one of the biggest names in country music. The run took in two nights each at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney and Spark Arena in Auckland, with the blues-rock guitarist Marcus King as special guest at every show.
This page sets out what is and is not known about a return, gives a full account of those eight 2025 concerts, looks at the songs he played night by night, and explains how to avoid the fake 'presale codes' and early ticket listings that tend to appear long before any real announcement.
There is no official information about Chris Stapleton concerts in Australia or New Zealand in 2027. No promoter has announced dates, no venue has listed a show, and no festival line-up released so far includes him. Anything presented as a confirmed 2027 itinerary for Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide or Auckland should be treated as rumour until it is published through official channels.
What is on record is his 2026 schedule: the All-American Road Show continued across North America from January 2026, with the listed dates ending in Kansas City, Missouri, on 10 October 2026. No dates for 2027 have been published for any region at the time of writing, so it is too early to say whether he will spend that year touring, recording or resting.
The 2025 visit gives some idea of how a return might look if it happens. That tour was announced as his debut run in the region, and extra shows were added before the general sale, leaving two nights in every city. The general sale opened on Friday 12 April 2024 at 11am local time. The pattern of two arena nights per city suggests strong demand, but it does not tell us anything about future plans.
Perth and Adelaide were not part of the 2025 itinerary, and in New Zealand only Auckland was visited. Fans in those cities often ask whether they will be included next time; no information exists either way. The safest approach is to register for an alert and wait for an official announcement rather than buying from listings that claim to know the dates in advance.
Chris Stapleton's concert history in Australia and New Zealand is short but concentrated. The setlist archive and the tour's Wikipedia article agree on eight shows, all in February and March 2025, all part of Chris Stapleton's All-American Road Show and all in indoor arenas. Before that, he had not toured the region as a solo artist.
The tour opened at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Tuesday 25 February 2025, followed by a second night there on Wednesday 26 February. Rod Laver Arena, at the heart of the Melbourne Park sports precinct, is the city's main indoor venue for major touring artists and the home of the Australian Open. The second Melbourne show finished with 'Sometimes I Cry', a slow blues he had not played the night before.
Brisbane came next, with two nights at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Boondall on Friday 28 February and Saturday 1 March 2025. The second Brisbane night included 'Maggie's Song', his tribute to a family dog, and 'Where Rainbows Never Die', a song from his years with the SteelDrivers.
Sydney had its two shows at Qudos Bank Arena, at Sydney Olympic Park, on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 March 2025. The first Sydney night featured 'Crosswind' from From A Room: Volume 2, while the second, the final Australian show of the tour, included 'A Simple Song' and closed with 'Might as Well Get Stoned'.
The tour finished in New Zealand, with two nights at Spark Arena in Auckland on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 March 2025. The closing night was the longest show of the run in the setlist archive, with 28 songs. It included 'Your Man', the Josh Turner hit Stapleton co-wrote, as well as 'The Devil Named Music', 'Maggie's Song', 'Where Rainbows Never Die' and 'Sometimes I Cry'.
Across the eight nights, Marcus King opened every show. King, a guitarist and singer from South Carolina, has long been associated with the same mix of Southern rock, soul and blues that runs through Stapleton's own records, which made the pairing a natural one for audiences.
The table below lists 8 documented Australia/NZ concerts by Chris Stapleton between 2025 and 2025, with the most shows in Auckland (2), Sydney (2), Brisbane (2), Melbourne (2). It is not exhaustive: it only includes documented shows.
| Date | City | Venue | Tour / event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 March 2025 | Auckland | Spark Arena | All-American Road Show |
| 7 March 2025 | Auckland | Spark Arena | All-American Road Show |
| 5 March 2025 | Sydney | Qudos Bank Arena | All-American Road Show |
| 4 March 2025 | Sydney | Qudos Bank Arena | All-American Road Show |
| 1 March 2025 | Brisbane | Brisbane Entertainment Centre | All-American Road Show |
| 28 February 2025 | Brisbane | Brisbane Entertainment Centre | All-American Road Show |
| 26 February 2025 | Melbourne | Rod Laver Arena | All-American Road Show |
| 25 February 2025 | Melbourne | Rod Laver Arena | All-American Road Show |
Concert data: setlist.fm
Across the 8 most recent documented Australia/NZ concerts with a full song list (25 February 2025 to 8 March 2025), these are the songs that came up most often. Titles only — set lists change from night to night.
Christopher Alvin Stapleton was born on 15 April 1978 in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in Staffordsville, near Paintsville, in a family of coal miners. He moved to Nashville in 1996 to study engineering at Vanderbilt University but left to write songs, signing with the publisher Sea Gayle Music. Over the next decade he wrote more than a thousand songs.
As a songwriter he co-wrote six number-one singles on the Hot Country Songs chart for other artists, including Kenny Chesney's 'Never Wanted Nothing More', Josh Turner's 'Your Man', George Strait's 'Love's Gonna Make It Alright' and Luke Bryan's 'Drink a Beer'. He also sang with the bluegrass band the SteelDrivers from 2007 to 2010 and then led the Southern rock band the Jompson Brothers.
His solo debut, Traveller (2015), recorded at RCA Studio A with producer Dave Cobb, went to number one on the Billboard 200. His duet with Justin Timberlake at the 2015 CMA Awards, on 'Tennessee Whiskey' and 'Drink You Away', is widely seen as the night that made him a household name. From A Room: Volume 1 and Volume 2 followed in 2017, Starting Over in 2020 and Higher in 2023.
Stapleton has won more than ten Grammy Awards, along with 11 ACM Awards and 15 CMA Awards. He sang the US national anthem at Super Bowl LVII in February 2023, and Rolling Stone ranked him 170th on its 2023 list of the 200 greatest singers of all time. In Australia, Higher reached number 13 on the ARIA albums chart, his best placing there, and in New Zealand it reached number 4.
| Album | Year | AUS chart peak |
|---|---|---|
| Traveller | 2015 | AUS 47 |
| From A Room: Volume 1 | 2017 | AUS 20 |
| From A Room: Volume 2 | 2017 | AUS 25 |
| Starting Over | 2020 | AUS 15 |
| Higher | 2023 | AUS 13 |
Most American country stars of Stapleton's stature reach Australia within a few years of their breakthrough. He took a decade. Traveller was released in May 2015, but his first Australian concert came on 25 February 2025. In between, he toured heavily in North America, where the All-American Road Show has run in one form or another since 2017.
The wait did not hurt demand. The 2025 run was announced as his first in Australia and New Zealand, and extra shows were added before the general sale. Those extra shows meant eight arena concerts in under two weeks, a substantial first visit for any international artist.
For fans hoping for a return, that history is a reminder that Stapleton does not tour the region every year. A second visit may come, but there is no evidence yet of when.
The three Australian cities of 2025 each had two nights, and each venue was the city's main indoor arena: Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. The schedule moved north from Melbourne to Brisbane and then back down to Sydney, with a day's break between cities.
The set lists show small differences between the paired nights. Melbourne heard 'Either Way' on the second night and 'Outlaw State of Mind' on the first; Brisbane added 'Where Rainbows Never Die'; Sydney's two shows featured 'Crosswind', 'Whiskey and You', 'A Simple Song' and 'Maggie's Song' in different combinations. Fans who attended both nights in a city heard a slightly different concert each time.
New Zealand's part of the tour was two nights at Spark Arena in Auckland on 7 and 8 March 2025, the last stops of the trip. No other New Zealand city was visited, so fans from Wellington or Christchurch had to travel north.
The final night in Auckland stands out in the archive: it ran to 28 songs, more than any other show of the visit, and included 'Your Man', 'The Devil Named Music' and 'Sometimes I Cry'. New Zealand also has a strong record with his albums: Higher reached number 4 and Traveller number 13 on the New Zealand chart.
Perth and Adelaide were not on the 2025 itinerary. That is common for American artists on short first visits, which often focus on the east coast plus Auckland. It does not mean a future tour would skip those cities, but nothing has been announced.
If a 2027 or later tour is confirmed, the announcement will name the cities and venues. Until then, no ticket for a Chris Stapleton show in Perth, Adelaide or anywhere else in the region is genuine.
Many Australian country fans knew Stapleton's songs before they knew his name. He co-wrote Josh Turner's 'Your Man', Kenny Chesney's 'Never Wanted Nothing More', George Strait's 'Love's Gonna Make It Alright' and Luke Bryan's 'Drink a Beer', and he has been credited on records by Adele, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson and Ed Sheeran.
That background shaped the 2025 shows. On the final Auckland night he sang 'Your Man' himself, a reminder that his catalogue as a writer is as deep as his own records. He has also recorded with Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran, and sang on an alternative version of Adele's 'Easy on Me'.
Stapleton's 2025 shows were built around a steady core. Every documented night in Australia and New Zealand opened with 'White Horse', followed by 'Nobody to Blame', 'Second One to Know', 'Millionaire' and 'Devil Always Made Me Think Twice'. The middle of the set mixed newer songs from Higher, such as 'It Takes a Woman', 'Think I'm in Love With You' and 'What Am I Gonna Do', with older favourites like 'Parachute', 'Starting Over' and 'Cold'.
The closing stretch was the same almost every night: 'Traveller', 'Fire Away', 'Broken Halos' and 'Tennessee Whiskey', the song from the 2015 CMA Awards that made his name. The encores varied, with 'What Are You Listening To?', 'Might as Well Get Stoned', 'Outlaw State of Mind' and 'Sometimes I Cry' all used. Most shows ran to between 24 and 28 songs.
The staging is deliberately simple: a band built around his guitar playing, with long instrumental passages and few effects. The focus is on his voice and the playing, which is why his concerts are often described as closer to a Southern rock or soul show than a typical country arena production.
There are no Chris Stapleton tickets on sale for Australia or New Zealand in 2027, because no concerts have been announced. Any site already selling seats or offering a presale code is not official.
For the 2025 tour, tickets went on general sale on Friday 12 April 2024 at 11am local time. If new dates are announced, buy only through the official ticket outlet named in the announcement or the venue's box office, use the artist's fan club presale if one is offered, and expect name-locked mobile tickets for arena shows. Be wary of anyone offering 'presale codes' for sale.
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Is Chris Stapleton touring Australia in 2027?
No dates have been announced as of 9 October 2026.
Has Chris Stapleton ever played in Australia?
Yes, once: his debut tour in February and March 2025, with two nights each in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
When did Chris Stapleton last play Sydney?
At Qudos Bank Arena on 4 and 5 March 2025.
When did Chris Stapleton last play Melbourne?
At Rod Laver Arena on 25 and 26 February 2025, the opening shows of the tour.
Has Chris Stapleton played in New Zealand?
Yes, two nights at Spark Arena in Auckland on 7 and 8 March 2025.
Who supported Chris Stapleton in Australia?
The American guitarist and singer Marcus King opened all eight shows in 2025.
Did Chris Stapleton play Perth or Adelaide?
No. The 2025 tour visited Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Auckland only.
What is Chris Stapleton's latest album?
Higher, released in 2023, which reached number 13 in Australia and number 4 in New Zealand.
Is there a Chris Stapleton presale code for 2027?
No. Nothing is on sale, so any code offered now is not genuine.
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