Sia tour speculation confirmed – are U2 and Cher next?
Rumours in the past week of Sia returning to tour after five years were confirmed on the weekend.
Music fans will now watch to see if similar speculation about U2 and Cher touring in 2018 will also be locked in in coming months.
Chugg Entertainment has the Adelaide-born global eccentric and highly theatrical hit maker Sia Furler playing her first Australian stadium shows in late spring.
The Chandelier star will be joined at the all-ages shows by a first-time all-female bill, with Charli XCX, Danish star MØ and Amy Shark.
Also joining her onstage will be Maddie Ziegler, the 14-year-old dancer who appears in five Sia music videos. Ziegler has collaborated with Furler on a number of American TV performances and performed at the 2015 Grammys alongside actress Kristen Wiig.
Her spectacular Nostalgic For The Present Tour is scheduled for the following dates:
- Thursday November 30 – AAMI Park, Melbourne
- Saturday December 2 – Allianz Stadium, Sydney
- Tuesday, December 5 – Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland
In Australia, the 4x Platinum Cheap Thrills was the most played single at radio by an Australian act in 2016 and fourth most played track. Elastic Heart went 3x Platinum and The Greatest chalked up 2x Platinum.
Her 2014 album 1000 Forms Of Fear topped the ARIA chart and was certified platinum for sales of 70,000, while last year’s This Is Acting went gold.
She was the most streamed artist on Spotify in Australia.
Earlier in her career, Furler’s songwriting prowess saw her being approached by Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and David Guetta for collaborations. She also penned songs for Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry and Camila Cabello.
Last September, she embarked on her first US tour after proving her live prowess at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
Time called her set “one of the festival’s best”.Billboard hailed it as “creatively captivating” and observed, “For an artist not prone to sprawling tours, Sia fully understands how to make the live experience feel vital.”
The U2 rumours have emanated from New Zealand. Composer and filmmaker Tony Johns said that the band’s management had rung him for background information and photos of his friend Greg Carroll.
Carroll was a stage manager for U2 and after his motorbike death in Dublin in 1988, Bono penned One Tree Hill in tribute and included it on The Joshua Tree.
The band’s world tour celebrates the 30th anniversary of the album, and it makes sense they’d be wanting to do a special spot around Carroll during the song segment.
Johns told the Wanganui Chronicle that the band’s representative told him they’d be in New Zealand in 2018.
Cher has tweeted that she is hoping to do two shows in Australia and New Zealand next year.
The 71-year old – who made quite an impression at the recentBillboard Music Awards – indicated tour plans were already in motion.
“Wildest dreams are coming true right now,” she said in one tweet, following it up with “crying tears of joy”.
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