The Oak Ridge Boys are heading out on tour this holiday season. The group announces their 2025 American Made Christmas Tour, kicking off on December 4 in Sarasota, Florida. The tour will conclude on December 20 in Midland, Michigan.
“Christmas time has always been our favorite time of year,” Duane Allen says. “Getting to see everyone during the holidays, singing our favorite Christmas songs, both traditional and new, is something I look forward to all year long. Come on out and see us if you can.”
Per a press release, the American Made Christmas Tour will include “breathtaking visuals, falling snow, and beautifully decorated Christmas trees, creating a picture-perfect setting for a night of festive joy.” The shows will include both holiday favorites, along with music from some of their seven best-selling Christmas albums.
The Oak Ridge Boys are also continuing their American Made: Farewell Tour, although the group has no plans of saying goodbye to their fans, at least not anytime soon. The tour was originally planned as Joe Bonsall was quietly battling ALS, although his official diagnosis was not given until after he passed away. When Bonsall realized he could not finish the tour dates, he personally called Ben James to replace him.
Bonsall tragically passed away on July 9, 2024. His death came amid an already challenging year, with Allen’s wife, Norah Lee, passing away in March of 2024, and William Lee Golden’s son, Rusty Golden, also died, only one week before Bonsall.
It was James, Golden and Richard Sterban who together suggested to Allen that the group continue touring.
“They said, ‘We’ve all talked, and we want to keep working. We’re not through singing yet,’” Allen tells Taste of Country. For the quartet, performing their decades of hits became the healing they needed.
“That four months was a very difficult time for the Oak Ridge Boys,” Allen acknowledges. “But we just kept believing and kept praying, and God has opened up some doors for us.”
“Right now, I don’t have any end date in sight,” he adds. “I just started my 60th year with the Oak Ridge Boys, and I have no one to come home to. Singing and the fans on the road, they’re all my family now. And this group of guys I work with, we all love each other, and we love what we do. So I don’t know when the end date will be.”
It was the end of The Oak Ridge Boys’ Christmas tour in 2023 when Bonsall realized he was unable to continue on the road.
“It was really hard to go through that progression, because we knew what was happening, but he didn’t want anybody to cry for him,” Allen tells Everything Nash. “He didn’t want anybody to feel sorry for him. He just wanted to do the best he could, and he wanted to go out singing, and he did. Early in the year, he said, ‘I’m going to do my very best to make every Christmas show,’ and he never missed a show. He never missed a note. His voice was strong to the very last note of the last song we sang.”
See a list of dates for The Oak Ridge Boys’ American Made Christmas Tour below. Find all of their music and upcoming shows at OakRidgeBoys.com.
The Oak Ridge Boys’ American Made Christmas Tour Dates:
DEC 04 – Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall / Sarasota, Fla.
DEC 05 – Anderson Music Hall / Hiawassee, Ga.
DEC 07 – Niswonger Performing Arts Center / Greeneville, Tenn.
DEC 11 – The Grand Theater / Wausau, Wis.
DEC 12 – Medina Entertainment Center / Medina, Minn.
DEC 13 – Crystal Grand Music Theatre / Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
DEC 18 – Honeywell Center – Ford Theater / Wabash, Ind.
DEC 19 – Canton Palace Theatre / Canton, Ohio
DEC 20 – Midland Center For The Arts / Midland, Mich.