When Rock the Universe at Universal Studios Florida recently announced its lineup with 23-year-old Josiah Queen sitting in a headlining spot, we saw a few versions of the same comment: “Where are the headliners?” I think it’s time for some of us to take off our old-people blinders. I say that with love. And as someone who has spent most of his life listening to Christian music.
One of the fascinating things happening in Christian music right now is that the definition of a “big artist” is changing very quickly. If your mental list of headliners was formed 10, 15…or let’s be honest 30+ years ago, it can be easy to look at a festival poster filled with younger names and assume the star power has disappeared.
Your vision may be blurrier, but the movement is as clear as it’s ever been. I’d even argue that it’s often superior in quality and content. This week brought a pretty substantial piece of evidence.
Josiah Queen, the unassuming 23-year-old singer-songwriter from the Tampa, Florida area, just announced the Damascus Road Tour, a 17-date run across the United States and Canada in spring 2027. And these aren’t clubs, theaters, or mega Churches even.
They’re arenas. BOK Center. Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Van Andel Arena. Spectrum Center. Target Center. T-Mobile Center. Honda Center. Dickies Arena.
Seventeen dates. Seventeen arena shows.
That’s a pretty significant leap for an artist who still carries himself more like the kid who grew up loving Christian music than someone attempting to manufacture himself into its next superstar. And perhaps that’s part of why this is working.
Queen’s songs don’t feel particularly engineered. His voice isn’t polished into anonymity. The music can feel raw, personal and sometimes almost homemade compared with the enormous production surrounding much of modern pop. Yet the numbers SHOULD be impossible to ignore.
Queen has surpassed 2.1 billion global streams. His breakout “The Prodigal” has crossed 200 million streams. “Dusty Bibles” became his first Billboard Hot 100 hit and earned RIAA Gold certification in less than six months. It also reached Spotify’s Viral 50 in more than 15 countries.
“Can’t Steal My Joy” went to No. 1 at Christian radio. “Demons” did it again, while crossing 100 million streams. He’s already sold more than 260,000 tickets on his headline tours and amassed more than 3 million followers across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook.
Now he’s going into arenas.
At some point, “rising artist” stops adequately describing what is happening and maybe you need to catch up. This is where those Rock the Universe comments become interesting.
When people asked where the headliners were, they weren’t necessarily being dismissive. They may genuinely not have known. That’s the silo problem.
You can be extremely familiar with one version of hit music and almost completely unaware that someone in another corner of it is selling hundreds of thousands of tickets.
There is a new generation of artists emerging who aren’t embarrassed by Christian music’s history. They listened to it. They were shaped by it. Now they’re making their own version of it for an audience that consumes music very differently than their parents did.
Queen isn’t the only one. These aren’t hypothetical “next generation” names waiting for the old guard to eventually hand them the keys. The audience has already arrived.
The Damascus Road Tour begins April 8, 2027, and includes 17 arena dates across the United States and Canada. An exclusive ticket presale begins September 14, with the public onsale beginning September 18 at 10 a.m. local time.
TOUR DATES:
Thursday, April 8, 2027 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
Friday, April 9, 2027 – St. Louis, MO – Chaifetz Arena
Saturday, April 10, 2027 – Indianapolis, IN – Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Sunday, April 11, 2027 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
Tuesday, April 13, 2027 – Toronto, ON – Coca-Cola Coliseum
Thursday, April 15, 2027 – Worcester, MA – DCU Center
Friday, April 16, 2027 – Hershey, PA – GIANT Center
Saturday, April 17, 2027 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
Sunday, April 18, 2027 – Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena
Friday, April 23, 2027 – Hoffman Estates, IL – NOW Arena
Saturday, April 24, 2027 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
Sunday, April 25, 2027 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
Thursday, April 29, 2027 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
Friday, April 30, 2027 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
Saturday, May 1, 2027 – Glendale, AZ – Desert Diamond Arena
Friday, May 7, 2027 – Cedar Park, TX – H-E-B Center at Cedar Park
Saturday, May 8, 2027 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena