Alan Jackson’s First Time Downunder

At the last show of Tim McGraw’s successful inaugural Australian tour – the largest country music tour in 15 years – promoters Chugg Entertainment and Rob Potts Entertainment Edge announced that Alan Jackson would do his first tour downunder in March.

He will play four arena shows March 4-11, joined by multiple CMA-nominated Miranda Lambert (also making her first sojourn here) and upcoming Aussie Jasmine Rae, whose debut album Look It Up yielded three No. 1 singles on the country charts.

That final McGraw show also drew the largest crowd on his Sept. 16-25 trek: 12,100 filed through the gates at Reid Park in Townsville in northern Queensland.

His second-largest was to 11,900 at Sydney’s Acer Arena, where he brought out wife Faith Hill onstage to celebrate her birthday during “I Need You.”

At the end of the tour, the country superstar’s Southern Voice album jumped to No. 12 position from No. 37 on the official ARIA charts.