New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash Announces Country Music Icon Keith Urban to Headline and Co-Host

Kane Brown and Jelly Roll also Headlining with Rachel Smith to Co-Host.

NASHVILLE The live show for Jack Daniel’s New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park will be headlined and co-hosted by four-time GRAMMY award-winning artist Keith Urban, joining previously announced headliners Kane Brown, an award-winning, multi-Platinum recording star, and GRAMMY-nominated artist Jelly Roll. ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT’s Rachel Smith will return as co-host.

The concert is free and open to the public. The five-hour CBS special will air live on Tuesday, Dec. 31 (7 p.m. – 9 p.m. CT and 9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. CT), and feature powerful back-to-back performances across multiple time zones live from Music City. NEW YEAR’S EVE LIVE: NASHVILLE’S BIG BASH, the highest-rated country music program of 2023, will air on the CBS Television Network and stream on Paramount +.

This marks the 16th annual New Year’s Eve concert, which relocated to Bicentennial Park in 2016, with Urban headlining the event from 2016 to 2019. The event will include the famed red Music Note, which will be dropped on a 138-foot tower at midnight to ring in the new year. As a live event, Big Bash generates as much as $39 million in direct visitor spending and attendance of 200,000+, with more than half being local residents.

“We are excited to have Keith Urban back as one of the headliners and a co-host of Nashville’s Big Bash,” said Deana Ivey, President and CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. “Keith consistently delivers an incredible show and has a dedicated fan base. This year’s event is shaping up to be one of the best yet, and we invite both visitors and residents to join us in ringing in the New Year with an unforgettable celebration.”

Keep up with new details: visitmusiccity.com/newyearseve. #NashvilleNYE

As a TV special, NEW YEAR’S EVE LIVE: NASHVILLE’S BIG BASH is executive produced by Robert Deaton and Mary Hilliard Harrington in partnership with Music City Inc., the foundation of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.  The special will be directed by Sandra Restrepo.

As a live event, Jack Daniel’s New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash is produced by Music City Inc., the foundation of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, for the city of Nashville and presented by Jack Daniel’s. Partners include Advance Financial, Crav’n Flavor, Jack Daniel’s, Nashville Farmers’ Market, NUTRL, ORCA (Outdoor Recreation Company of America), Stella Artois, Tennessee State Parks and Tennessee Highway Safety Office: Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk.

Keith Urban

One of the most well-respected artists in the world, Keith Urban has won four GRAMMY Awards, thirteen CMAs, fifteen ACMs, three AMAs, two People’s Choice Awards and celebrated nine consecutive gold, platinum or multi-platinum albums, which have produced more than 10 billion streams. On September 20, Urban released HIGH, his 11th solo album. He’s described it as a “musical journey, intentionally sequenced through themes of life, human connection, hope, straight-up fun and personal revelation.” Songs including “Straight Line,” “Messed Up As Me,” the album’s current single, and “Go Home W U” with Lainey Wilson debuted in January 2024. Not long after, Urban announced the Australian leg of his HIGH AND ALIVE WORLD TOUR. North American dates will be announced later this year. In the meantime, Urban has returned to Las Vegas for KEITH URBAN’S HIGH at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The shows will take place in October 2024 and February (14-15, 19 and 21-22) 2025. Urban’s career has been sprinkled with creative collaborations, including Carrie Underwood, Lainey Wilson, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, John Mayer, HARDY, Jelly Roll, Justin Timberlake, Nile Rodgers, P!nk, Post Malone and The Rolling Stones. He’s been a judge on American Idol and performed at the Olympics, Indianapolis 500, the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day Halftime Show, the pre-game show at the Super Bowl, the NCAA’s Final Four, the NBA’s All-Star Weekend, Live 8, One World: Together At Home benefit concert and Red Nose Day. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Music City Walk of Fame.

Kane Brown

Named “the future of country music” (Billboard), multi-Platinum-selling, award-winning singer-songwriter Kane Brown recently released the follow up to his 11th No. 1 single at Country radio, “Miles On It” with Marshmello and is on his 2024 In the Air Headline Tour. Brown first broke onto the scene with the arrival of his self-titled, two-time Platinum debut album (2016), where he became the first artist ever to lead all five of Billboard’s main Country charts simultaneously and topped the Billboard Top Country Albums chart for 13 weeks. He earned two of the most-streamed Country songs of all time: chart-topping singles diamond-certified “Heaven” and nine-time Platinum “What Ifs.” His album Experiment (2018) hit No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 all-genre list, and Brown became the first Country artist in more than 24 years to top the chart with a sophomore album. Brown released his multi-song project Mixtape Vol. 1, which earned him an ACM Award nomination for Album of the Year (2021) and an ACM win for Video of the Year. Named to Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World (2021), Brown has ascended from independently built social media notability to an ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee (2023 and 2024). He has garnered a series of milestones that continue to expand the perception of country music and break musical boundaries. kanebrownmusic.com

Jelly Roll

Jelly Roll (Jason DeFord) is currently nominated for three CMA awards, including Entertainer of the Year, Male, and Album of the Year (Whitsitt Chapel). The award-winning, GRAMMY-nominated Nashville native singer-songwriter is set to release his highly anticipated new follow-up album, Beautifully Broken on October 11. His new single “I Am No OK” follows four consecutive No. 1 singles at Country radio: “Halfway To Hell,” “Save Me,” “Need A Favor” and “Son of A Sinner.” In 2023, Jelly’s country album debut Whitsitt Chapel, entered at Top 3 on the Billboard 200 All Genre Chart and No. 2 on the Top Country Album charts, earning the biggest Country debut album in Billboard Consumption Chart history. Following his sweep at the 2023 CMT Music Awards, where he earned three awards to become the most-awarded artist of the night, the Billboard Country Power List Cover star received Billboard’s 2023 Breakthrough Award and the People’s Choice Award for Male Country Artist of the Year. Nominated for Best New Artist and Best Duo/Group Performance for “Save Me (with Lainey Wilson)” at the 2024 GRAMMY Awards, along with eight genre-spanning nominations at the 2024 iHeartRadio Awards and a win for Best New Country and Pop Artist, Jelly Roll is one of three artists alongside Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs to have scored three Country Airplay No. 1s in 2023 and the first to do it with his first three singles. Jelly was a four-time winner at the 2023 People’s Choice Country Awards and the most nominated male at the 2023 CMA Awards, with five total nominations capturing his first CMA Award for New Artist of the Year. His No. 1 hit single “Save Me” took him to new heights, including a Platinum certification from the RIAA on the heels of his 28-week reign at No. 1 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart and earned him his first ACM win for Music Event of the Year. Not just an artist but a humanitarian, he continues to resonate with fans on a global scale. He sold out his hometown show with 18,000 fans at Bridgestone Arena; donated a recording studio at the juvenile detention center he served in as a teen; released his record-breaking documentary by ABC News, “Save Me,” the most watched music documentary on the platform; and has visited with rehab centers and those incarcerated across the country. jellyroll615.com

The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp and Visit Music City

The mission of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp and Visit Music City is to maximize the economic contribution of the convention and tourism industry to the community by developing and marketing Nashville as a premier destination. Visit the NCVC’s website at www.visitmusiccity.com and follow us on social media @VisitMusicCity.

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