Tickets for shows in San Antonio; Dallas; and Columbus, Ohio, go on sale July 13. Other on-sale dates have yet to be announced.

“We’re going back to playing the arenas this year and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Strait. “We definitely had a great time doing the stadiums but I’m excited about seeing some faces again. Not that 20,000-seat arenas are exactly intimate settings, but you can tell a difference and I think it will be a fun change of pace.”

Opening for Strait is JoDee Messina, who is equally as thrilled about taking to the road together. “I am so excited to be asked to be a part of this tour,” she said. “George Strait is a country music icon and someone I very much admire. I’m looking forward to hitting the road with him this fall.”

Strait has famously shied away from solo arena tours in recent years. Although he still makes regular stage appearances – mostly on his George Strait Country Music Festival stint – his last headlining, non-festival orientated tour was a six-date outing in 1997.

Earlier this spring, Strait played two rare arena shows.

Last November, Strait released his 28th album titled The Road Less Traveled. The country star has sold an estimated 57 million albums in his two-decade-long career. After this tour, he plans to return to the studio and record another album.