James Taylor will return to St. Paul on June 17

Tickets will go on sale Friday for the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s Xcel Energy Center concert.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 10, 2024 at 1:10PM
James Taylor performs onstage at the 2016 All for the Hall Los Angeles Benefit Concert at The Novo by Microsoft on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) ORG XMIT: CAPS107
James Taylor will return to Xcel Energy Center on June 17. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

On his summer tour of mostly amphitheaters, veteran troubadour James Taylor will detour indoors to Xcel Energy Center on June 17.

It will be the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s first Twin Cities appearance since 2021 when he presented a 1970s-centric repertoire. He mentioned that night how well he knew Minneapolis and St. Paul from reading John Sandford’s Twin Cities-set novels.

“It’s actually not very accurate,” he joked of the books’ portrayal of Minnesota’s biggest market.

Taylor’s most recent album, 2020′s “American Standard,” featuring his interpretations of pop standards, received the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album. He’s known for such ‘70s favorites as “Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and his remake of “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).”

The 76-year-old singer/songwriter is a six-time Grammy winner who has been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock Hall of Fame as well as recognized with National Medal of Arts, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Kennedy Center Honors.

And, of course, his surname was the inspiration for the first name of Scott and Andrea Swift’s now-famous daughter.

Taylor will arrive in St. Paul directly after performing at the iconic Red Rocks in Colorado. After his Minnesota gig, he heads to two of the Midwest’s best known outdoor sites, Ravinia in Chicago and Summerfest in Milwaukee.

Unlike his last two St. Paul concerts when he brought contemporaries Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt as openers, Taylor will be supported by Tiny Habits, a young folk-pop trio from Boston.

Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday on Ticketmaster.com. Prices have not been announced.

about the writer

about the writer

Jon Bream

Critic / Reporter

Jon Bream has been a music critic at the Star Tribune since 1975, making him the longest tenured pop critic at a U.S. daily newspaper. He has attended more than 8,000 concerts and written four books (on Prince, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan). Thus far, he has ignored readers’ suggestions that he take a music-appreciation class.

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