Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen will be headliners for Tortuga
Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett and a comeback by Morgan Wallen will be the highlights when Tortuga Music Festival returns to Fort Lauderdale Beach Park in less than five months, with organizers announcing that the festival will happen April 8-10.
The country music throwdown just made its long-awaited return to Fort Lauderdale last weekend after more than 30 months idled by the pandemic.
Tickets for Tortuga Music Festival 2022 are scheduled to go on sale 10 a.m. Dec. 3 at TortugaMusicFestival.com.
Other acts on the bill include Brothers Osborne, Jordan Davis, Travis Denning, Walker Hayes, Randy Houser, Nelly, Surfaces, Mitchell Tenpenny, Travis Tritt, Hailey Whitters, Lainey Wilson, Chase Rice, Breeland, Jelly Roll, Kendell Marvel, Scotty McCreery, Sister Hazel and Sublime With Rome.
Combs was named Entertainer of the Year at the CMA Awards earlier this month, where he debuted a new song, “Doin’ This.” Last year, Combs married Nicole Hocking, who grew up in West Palm Beach.
His most recent album is “What You See is What You Get,” much of which he performed as a headliner at the 2019 Kiss Chili Cookoff, including hits “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” “Even Though I’m Leaving,” “Does to Me,” “Lovin’ on You,” “Better Together” and “Forever After All.”
Wallen announced a return to touring with his 2022 Dangerous Tour. The popular singer has been sidelined since he was caught on video using a racial slur in early 2021. In the interim, he has completed a 30-day stay in rehab and reportedly met with Black music executives and civil rights organizations.
Wallen had been part of the original lineup for Tortuga’s delayed 2020 festival, and he was poised for a breakout year in 2021, before the video surfaced in February. His critically lauded double album “Dangerous,” released in January, 2021, produced more than a dozen Top 40 songs on Billboard’s Hot Country singles chart, including “Wasted on You” and “Sand in My Boots.”
His previous hits include “Whiskey Glasses,” “Chasin’ You,” “The Way I Talk,” “This Bar” and “More Than My Hometown.”
As has become tradition, tens of thousands of fans hit the beach Nov. 12-14 for Tortuga 2021, drawn by headliners that included Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan and Tim McGraw, with support from chart-topper Pitbull.
The quick turnaround for 2022
puts the popular country music festival back on its traditional springtime rotation.
While the 2021 festival played out under mostly sunny skies, some attendees remarked that the days seemed darker a week after clocks were turned back an hour. A return to the later sunset during daylight savings time in the spring should cure that.
For those of you keeping score at home, this ends Kenny Chesney’s string of performing as a headliner every other year at Tortuga, beginning with its debut in 2013.
Chesney opens his long-delayed Here And Now tour April 23 at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, joined by Dan & Shay, Old Dominion and Carly Pearce. It is currently the only Florida concert on the tour.