Blake Shelton & Darius Rucker to Perform at John Deere Classic
Darius Rucker (Saturday) & Blake Shelton (Sunday) to Perform After Play Concludes
The John Deere Classic today announced its first-ever Concert on the Course series featuring two of the nation’s best-known and most popular performers, Darius Rucker (Saturday) and Blake Shelton (Sunday).
The concerts will take place adjacent to the 18th fairway with fans able to gather on the amphitheater-style hillside to golfers’-right while the stage will be located on golfers’-left of the fairway. There will be no seating on the fairway or green.
“The John Deere Classic is excited to announce our first-ever Concert on the Course series featuring Blake Shelton and Darius Rucker, two of America’s most popular entertainers,” said tournament director Andrew Lehman. “We can’t wait to welcome fans to TPC Deere Run to enjoy golf and music at a unique and spectacular outdoor venue.”
Mara Downing, John Deere’s vice president of Global Brand and Communications, said the Concert on the Course initiative is a way to welcome more members of the community to the annual event and to support its highly successful Birdies for Charity initiative.
“We’re thrilled to bring some of the world’s best musicians to our headquarters community all in an effort to support the Birdies for Charity program,” Downing said. “We believe the Concert on the Course series will enhance the overall John Deere Classic experience, bringing together golfers and non-golfers alike, to unite around a charitable cause. Our on-course concert series is a win-win for everyone involved.”
Anyone interested in attending need only to purchase a day-specific ticket to the tournament or use FLEX tickets, which enable holders to attend the tournament any one day during the event (Wednesday-Sunday). Concerts will start following the conclusion of play at approximately 5:45 p.m. Anyone wishing to attend a concert must arrive on the property before 4 p.m. after which the gates will be closed. Shuttle buses will operate from parking lots designated on individual tickets. Tickets may be purchased at johndeereclassic.com.
Blake Shelton is one of Country music’s most successful entertainers and biggest stars, having sold 10 million records and 30 million singles along with more than 1.7 billion streams of his songs worldwide. A winner of hundreds of achievement awards by such organizations as the Academy of Country Music (5), the American Music Awards (3), the Country Music Association (10), the CMT Music Awards (11), and People’s Choice Awards (7). He has charted 40 singles, 28 of which ascended to number one. He became a regular presence in America’s living rooms in 2011 when he was named one of the coaches on NBC’s popular show The Voice. He was a nine-time champion on the show before leaving after the 2023 season. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Season 2 of his new celebrity game show with Carson Daly, Barmgeddon, will air in late 2023 on USA Network. Known for his philanthropy, Shelton has helped raise millions of dollars for humanitarian causes in his native Oklahoma and around the world.
Rucker first achieved multi-Platinum status in the music industry as lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the GRAMMY Award-winning band Hootie & the Blowfish, who have sold more than 25 million albums worldwide including their Double Diamond-certified (21x Platinum) debut Cracked Rear View, which remains among the top 10 best-selling studio albums of all time. Since releasing his first Country album in 2008, Rucker has earned a whole new legion of fans with four No. 1 albums on the Billboard Country chart, including RIAA Platinum-certified Learn to Live and True Believers, plus 10 No. 1 singles at Country radio and 11 Gold, Platinum or multi-Platinum certified hits. Rucker was inducted as a Grand Ole Opry member in 2012 and in 2014 he won his third career GRAMMY Award for Best Solo Country Performance with his Diamond-certified (11x Platinum) version of “Wagon Wheel,” one of the top five best-selling Country songs of all time. He co-hosted the 54th annual CMA Awards in 2020 and topped the charts at Country radio once again with “Beers And Sunshine” in 2021. Rucker’s new single, “Fires Don’t Start Themselves” is available everywhere now as he puts the finishing touches on his forthcoming album, Carolyn’s Boy, and he is set to preview the new music this summer on his Starting Fires Tour.
As a lifelong philanthropist, Rucker co-chaired the capital campaign that generated $150 million to help build the new MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital in his hometown of Charleston, S.C. and has raised over $3 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through his annual Darius & Friends benefit concert and golf tournament. In addition, Rucker has advocated for over 200 charitable causes supporting public education and junior golf programs in South Carolina through the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation and serves as a National Chair for the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tenn. Rucker is also an avid sports fan, with his NFL x Darius Rucker Collection by Fanatics apparel line available at NFLshop.com, and he is part of the Music City Baseball investment group working to bring an MLB team to Tennessee in addition to serving as a partner at the MGC Sports & Entertainment agency.
The 52nd edition of the Quad Cities-based PGA Tour event will be conducted July 5-9 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis with J.T. Poston as defending champion. In a wire-to-wire victory, Poston won by three shots in 2022 with a 21-under par total for the 72-hole event. The tournament will offer a $7.4 million purse, an increase of $300,000.
The John Deere Classic, which includes Birdies for Charity, is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization located in the John Deere Classic tournament offices at 15623 Coaltown Road, East Moline, Illinois. Since its founding in 1971, the tournament has helped raise more than $159.57 million for charity.