Zayn has been popping up on The Tonight Show not for chats or games, but for quick, mysterious announcements.
In May, he interrupted Jimmy Fallon’s monologue to hand him a note revealing his new album, Room Under the Stairs, and played a short clip from an unreleased song before leaving quietly. Last night, he repeated this surprise move but this time, he was announcing his first solo tour.
This time around, Zayn walked onto the stage amid loud cheers, hit play on a laptop to start his new single "Stardust," and gave Fallon another note. Fallon read it in a quirky British accent: “Hey Jimmy, great to see you, mate. I’m going on my first ever solo tour this Autumn. So maybe when you’re done picking apples with your buds, you can come check out my Stairway to the Sky tour across the U.S. and U.K. I’m making an official announcement tomorrow morning. Let me know what day you need tickets for.”
Zayn’s Stairway to the Sky tour is his first live show tour in nearly ten years, since he was in One Direction. He’s rarely performed live since leaving the band in March 2015 due to severe anxiety. Earlier this year, he played his first solo show in over five years at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, marking the release of his new album.
Fans can’t wait to see him back on stage.
The tour kicks off on Oct. 23 in San Francisco and wraps up on Dec. 3 in Newcastle. Stops include Las Vegas, LA, Washington D.C., New York, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, London, and Wolverhampton.
General ticket sales start on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 11 a.m. local time on Zayn’s website. Presales, including the Zayn VIP Key sale, begin on Thursday, Sept. 19.
STAIRWAY TO THE SKY TOUR 2024
Appreciate your patience, love, and support. Can’t wait to enjoy great music together.
This time I really mean soon see you in 35 days….
Tickets on sale Saturday but VIP Key holders will get first access to tickets beginning tomorrow
— zayn (@zaynmalik) September 18, 2024
The 11-city tour will have Zayn performing in venues that hold 2,000 to 4,000 people. This fits well with the intimate vibe of his album Room Under the Stairs, similar to an MTV Unplugged set. In teasers, Zayn highlighted earlier hits like “Pillowtalk” and “Dusk Til Dawn.”
“While MTV Unplugged often captured artists at the height of their careers, Room Under the Stairs is a showcase of an artist willingly setting the bar higher to give himself something to yearn for both emotionally and creatively,” Rolling Stone wrote in a review of the album. “Zayn’s simultaneous emergence as a lead songwriter, producer, and — for the first time in nearly a decade — a live performer is a heavy load to place on one record and it doesn’t arrive without its stumbles. But across these 15 songs, he evokes the feeling that those missteps and the spectators making note of them disappear when he closes his eyes and just sings, entirely unplugged.”
Zayn Stairway to the Sky 2024 Tour Dates
Oct. 23 — San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
Oct. 25 — Las Vegas, CA @ The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
Oct. 27 — Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall
Oct. 30 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
Nov. 2 — New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
Nov. 20 — Edinburgh, UK @ O2 Academy
Nov. 23 — Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy
Nov. 24 — Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
Nov. 26 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
Nov. 29 — Wolverhampton, UK @ Wolverhampton The Halls
Dec. 3 — Newcastle, UK @ O2 City Hall
