Taylor Swift Announces The RED Tour

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --  Taylor Swift announced tonight that she will launch a North American stadium and arena tour in early 2013 in support of her blockbuster new album, RED. Taylor made the special announcement in partnership with ABC News on tonight's primetime TV special "All Access Nashville with Katie Couric – A Special Edition of 20/20." Watch the announcement here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoJj-5nAGpM. RED was released this week to widespread worldwide critical acclaim and has already topped the iTunes album sales charts in 40 countries.

On The RED Tour, Taylor is currently slated to headline 58 shows in 45 cities in 29 states and 3 provinces in 2013. The tour will kick-off on March 13 in Omaha, Nebraska and continue through September. Acclaimed singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran, whose duet with Taylor from her RED album, "Everything Has Changed," has already reached the #1 position atop iTunes all-genre Top Songs chart, will be a special guest on all of the shows on the tour.

The 2013 dates will include nine stadiums – Detroit's Ford Field, Dallas's Cowboys Stadium, Toronto's Rogers Centre, Winnipeg's Investors' Group Field, Vancouver's BC Place Stadium, Pittsburgh's Heinz Field, Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field, Foxborough, Mass.'s Gillette Stadium and Chicago's Soldier Field.

The RED Tour will be produced and promoted by The Messina Group (TMG). At Taylor's request, every show will include tickets priced at under $50. The first tickets will go on sale on November 16^th, and on-sale information is available now at www.taylorswift.com and www.abcnews.com. TMG is a partner of AEG Live, one of the top live entertainment companies in the world, which produces world tours featuring internationally renowned artists and regional concerts and festivals.

Taylor's RED Tour is set to be one of the most-anticipated musical events of 2013, as Taylor's live shows are renowned worldwide for bringing her music to life with what Variety has dubbed "supreme spectacle" and Billboard has hailed as an "overwhelming experience...that blended the pacing, the music and the artist's personality in a way that transfixed." During the course of every show, Taylor plays a variety of instruments and performs her biggest hits and fan favorites from her four Big Machine Records albums.

 "I didn't think I could be any more excited about my RED album, but then I start thinking about how I'm going to put the new show together for The RED Tour," says Taylor. "I have so many ideas about how to really bring this music to life, and I can't wait to share the new show with all my fans!"

Taylor Swift's THE RED TOUR will include the following:

Taylor Swift is a six-time GRAMMY winner, and is the youngest winner in history of the music industry's highest honor, the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Her fourth studio album, RED, was just released this week, and is already garnering widespread critical acclaim and setting new sales records. Her 2010 album, Speak Now, was lauded on Rolling Stone's prestigious The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time (by women) list, and Time magazine has named Taylor one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Two-time BRIT Award winning singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran has become one of the biggest musical success stories in the UK over the past year and is already a fast-rising star in the U.S. Sheeran's debut single, "The A Team," was Britain's highest-charting, biggest-selling debut single of 2011; his debut album, "+", entered the UK Albums Chart at #1 and has since been certified 5x-platinum.  "+" debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 upon its stateside release via Elektra Records this past summer, with "The A Team" continuing to climb the radio charts.

For more details, log on to www.taylorswift.com and www.abcnews.com.

SOURCE Big Machine Records