2nd Summerfest headliner announced: James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt to play American Family Insurance Amphitheater June 28th

MILWAUKEE -- James Taylor and his All-Star Band, with special guest Bonnie Raitt and Her Band will headline the American Family Insurance Amphitheater during Summerfest on Thursday, June 28th during Summerfest 2018, officials announced Tuesday, January 9th.

According to a press release from Summerfest officials, Taylor and Raitt’s highly acclaimed summer tour played to sold-out crowds across the US last summer and celebrated their decades-long friendship.

Tickets go on sale Friday, January 19th, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. at Summerfest.com and Ticketmaster.com and include admission to Summerfest.

As a recording and touring artist, James Taylor has touched people with his warm baritone voice and distinctive style of guitar-playing for more than 40 years, while setting a precedent to which countless young musicians have aspired. Over the course of his celebrated songwriting and performing career, Taylor has sold more than 100 million albums, earning gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards for classics ranging from Sweet Baby James in 1970 to October Road in 2002. In 2015, Taylor released Before This World, his first new studio album in thirteen years, which earned him his first ever #1 album. He has won multiple Grammy awards and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2012, Taylor was awarded the distinguished Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government and the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony. In November 2015, Taylor was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. In December 2016 Taylor received the Kennedy Center Honors, which are presented annually to individuals who have enriched American culture by distinguished achievement in the performing arts.

Bonnie Raitt is more than just a best-selling artist, respected guitarist, expressive singer, and accomplished songwriter, she has become an institution in American music. Born to a musical family, the ten-time Grammy winner, who Rolling Stone named as both one of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" and one of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,” was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. After 20 years as a cult favorite, she broke through to the top in the early 90s with her GRAMMY-award winning albums, Nick of Time and Luck of the Draw, which featured hits such as, "Something To Talk About" and "I Can't Make You Love Me." 2017 proved to be an exciting year with tour dates in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Canada and across the U.S. (including 17 dates in the support slot for Taylor) building on the success of 2016's trek which saw Raitt perform over 75 tour dates worldwide following the release of her twentieth album Dig In Deep (Redwing Records). As a follow-up to 2012’s triumphant Slipstream—the Grammy-winning, Top 10-charting first release on her independent label—Dig In Deep illustrates the delicate balance of consistency and risk-taking that has defined Raitt’s remarkable career for more than forty-five years—a career where she is as known for her lifelong commitment to social activism as she is for her music regularly incorporating on-tour fundraising for charity and benefit concerts into her schedule.

Tickets for James Taylor with special guest Bonnie Raitt can also be purchased at the Summerfest Box Office in person, Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, select Walmart stores, and by phone at 1.800.745.3000 (live Ticketmaster Agent) or 1.866.448.7849 ("Ticketmaster Express" automated phone line). Patrons may also utilize "ticketfast" at Ticketmaster.com to print barcoded concert tickets from home. Convenience fees may be added to all purchases.

Summerfest 2018 will take place June 27th-July 1st and July 3rd-8th, 2018, closed on July 2nd.