The Black Keys will play small venues on a three-city U.S. tour this September.
Joshua Black Wilkins*The Black Keys will perform at three intimate theaters in U.S. cities named after foreign cities when the blues-rock duo embarks on their “World Tour” in September. Singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney will play Athens, Georgia; St. Petersburg, Florida; and Oxford, Mississippi.
Carney acknowledged the cheekiness of the idea in a press release on Wednesday. “Dan and I have joked about doing a tour of American cities named after other cities in the world since we were touring together in a van. It feels like now is as good a time as any and we are excited to play in some places we haven’t played in since the early days of the band and for fans that have not had a chance to see us in a while,” he said.
The Black Keys will play a pair of 2,000-capacity rooms (Athens’ Classic Center, St. Petersburg’s Jannus Live) and a 1,000-capacity hall (Oxford’s Lyric). The three shows lead up to the group’s headlining appearance at the 2021 Pilgrimage Festival outside Nashville the weekend of September 25th and 26th (see tickets here).
The “World Tour” gigs will lean on the Keys’ latest album, Delta Kream, a collection of Hill Country blues covers by Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside. “They were so pivotal in our careers, Pat and I. It’s what brought us together. It was the concentric circle, where on the outside, he and I liked totally different things, but in the middle it was Junior and R.L. We could drive down the highway all night and listen to them. It was just endless inspiration for us,” Auerbach told Rolling Stone earlier this summer.
In addition to the tour, the Black Keys have partnered with the Save the Music Foundation, the organization that supports elementary and middle-school music programs. Together they’ll work to bring music education and instruments to schools in Mississippi’s Hill Country.
Tickets for the World Tour go on sale Friday, July 23rd at 10 a.m. local time on the band’s website and Ticketmaster.com. You can also find tickets at VividSeats.com.
The Black Keys’ World Tour Dates:
September 20 — Athens, GA @ The Classic Center
September 21 — St Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live
September 23 — Oxford, MS @ The Lyric
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The 2026 Grammys turned into a huge night for Kendrick Lamar, who walked away with several major trophies. Among his wins were Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, and Record of the Year, among others. The Record of the Year prize was awarded to him alongside SZA for their track "luther," with Cher presenting the category. The announcement briefly caused confusion when the legendary pop star mistakenly declared the late Luther Vandross as the recipient.
The moment was taken in good spirits by those watching. Vandross’ official Instagram page later acknowledged the situation with a post of Cher’s announcement, paired with vintage footage of Vandross accepting one of his own accolades. "If only we could turn back time, @Cher ❤️," the caption reads.
SZA spoke in support of Cher while speaking with Entertainment Tonight shortly after the ceremony, explaining that she understands why the mix up happened.
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“We share the frequency of the song. Like, that’s his frequency that allowed us to win and that allowed it to be memorable,” she explained. “So, she’s not wrong and she’s from that era. She probably really knew Luther Vandross. Of course, her brain and her energy is connecting that energy to the energy that we’re sharing.”
“We’re mooching off of what Luther already gave us,” SZA continued. “We’re grateful. It’s like, I wish I could speak to him. Thank you, Luther.”
Kendrick also made sure to acknowledge Vandross during his acceptance speech, expressing his appreciation for being able to sample the iconic singer. “Luther Vandross is one of my favorite artists of all time," he explained. "They granted us the privilege to do our version of it. When we got that clearance, I promise you we all near dropped to tears. It proved we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals. They granted us that.”
