Photo: Getty Images
Thomas Rhett teamed up with Niall Horan to deliver an unforgettable set packed with nostalgic anthems and career-spanning hits.
The genre-blending artists co-headlined GEODIS Park on Thursday night (July 9) in Nashville, Tennessee, sharing the stage with special guests Kashus Culpepper and Emily Ann Roberts as Rhett kicks off his “The Soundtrack To Life Tour.” Rhett and Horan delivered individual performances before sharing the stage together to close out the night. Rhett and Horan began their shared set with “Heaven,” which Horan released on his 2023 studio album, The Show. They went on to perform “Old Tricks,” a collaboration appearing on the deluxe edition of Rhett’s About A Woman record last year.
Rhett shared with thousands of fans in the crowd that he and Horan considered several songs to cover during the show, including hits by Tom Petty, Reba McEntire and other artists. Horan suggested, “why don’t we do the biggest song on the planet?” That’s when Rhett revealed, “we are Ella’s Fellas,” and went on to cover Ella Langley’s history-making single, “Choosin’ Texas.”
They closed the show with collaborative renditions of hits by each artist. Horan said his favorite song by Rhett is “Die a Happy Man,” a 2015 single that remains one of the most beloved hits of the country star’s career. Then, further leaning into the nostalgia of the mid-2010s, the pair delivered the grand finale performance of One Direction’s 2014 anthem, “Steal My Girl.”
Horan, who made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry earlier in the week, performed “Heartbreak Weather,” “Dinner Party” — the title track of his upcoming record — “This Town,” “She Gets It From Her Mother,” “Flowers,” “Little More Time,” “Slow Hands” and more. Rhett launched his set with “Make Me Wanna,” and continued with “T-Shirt,” “Sixteen,” “Beautiful As You,” “Marry Me,” “Life Changes,” “Crash and Burn” and more. He performed everything from his first No. 1 single (“It Goes Like This” from his 2013 debut), to an unreleased ballad. It wasn’t clear as of publication time when the unreleased song might make its debut.
“Niall and I have been buddies for nearly a decade now, but one thing we’ve not done yet is officially tour together," Rhett said in a statement when he and Horan announced the co-headlining shows earlier this year. "There’s nothing I love more than being on the road alongside longtime friends—it’s going to be a blast for us and the fans.”
added in a statement of his own, “when TR brought up the idea of doing these, I immediately got so excited just thinking about it. We’ve been friends for ages and it just makes perfect sense.”
Rhett, the newest inductee into the Music City Walk of Fame, will bring Culpepper, Roberts, ERNEST, Zach John King, Vincent Mason and Conner Smith on select dates of his tour. Scroll below to see the full list of dates, and to find additional clips from the co-headlining show.
THE SOUNDTRACK TO LIFE TOUR Dates:
7/9 - Nashville, TN - GEODIS Park * ~
7/11 - Greenville, SC - Bon Secours Wellness Arena * ~
7/16 - Hartford, CT - The Meadows Music Theatre * ~
7/17 - Gilford, NH - BankNH Pavilion * ~
7/18 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium * ~
8/13 - Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion * ~
8/14 - Bethel, NY - Bethel Woods Center for the Arts * ~
8/20 - Evansville, IN - Ford Center + ~
8/22 - Grand Rapids, MI - Acrisure Amphitheater + ~
9/10 - Louisville, KY - KFC Yum! Center ^ ~
9/11 - Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center ^ ~
9/12 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center ^ ~
9/17 - Austin, TX - Moody Center # ~
9/18 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center # ~
9/19 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center # ~
10/1 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum ! ~
10/2 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center ! ~
10/3 - Sacramento, CA - Golden 1 Center ! ~
10/9 - Albuquerque, NM - First Financial Credit Union Amphitheater ! ~
10/10 - Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre ! ~
10/22 - Des Moines, IA - Casey's Center # ~
10/23 - Kansas City, MO - Morton Amphitheater # ~
10/24 - Omaha, NE - CHI Health Center # ~
! ERNEST
* Kashus Culpepper
# Zach John King
^ Vincent Mason
+ Conner Smith
~ Emily Ann Roberts