Dwight Yoakam is starting 2026 off on a high note. The singer said goodbye to 2025 and welcomed in the new year with a performance during New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash.
Taking the stage at Category 10—the home of the official New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash watch party—Yoakam performed some of his biggest hits to ring in 2025.
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Category 10 will also play host to Marcus King’s performance on Dec. 31.
The five-hour broadcast, which is being hosted by Bert Kreischer and Hardy, is set to feature tons of unforgettable performances. Headliners Jason Aldean, Lainey Wilson, and Bailey Zimmerman will take the stage at Bicentennial Park, where they’ll be joined by CeCe Winans and the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
Meanwhile, Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts, Riley Green, Megan Moroney, Zach Top, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, and Stephen Wilson Jr. will perform at various venues across Music City.
Bert Kreischer and Hardy are hosting the special, which will include appearances by comedian Dusty Slay, Entertainment Tonight‘s Cassie DiLaura, Sirius XM host Buzz Brainard, and UFC champion Kayla Harrison.
Dwight Yoakam’s Recent Work
2025 saw Yoakam reveling in the release of his most recent album, Brighter Days, which he released in November 2024. The LP was Yoakam’s first work in nearly a decade. The LP even included a collaboration with Post Malone, “I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom).”
As for the title of the album, Yoakam told Billboard, “I thought, ‘When the fog of all this rises, brightness is what we’re hoping for—the brighter days.”
Throughout the year, Yoakam performed his The Cosmic Roundup and Rodeo Tour all over the country.
In 2026, Yoakam will hit the road for his Live in Concert series. During that run, he’ll play seven shows throughout the U.S. in February and March.
After that, he’ll head out with ZZ Top for the Dos Amigos Tour, which the two artists will co-headline. It’ll kick off March 26 in South Dakota and run through a May 23 performance in West Virginia.
Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
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