Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice is hitting the road to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his iconic album, “O.”
Rice has announced a 25-city tour kicking off in Australia next February, then continuing to Asia, Europe, the UK, South America, and North America. The tour includes only three stops in the U.S., including New York and Chicago, and one West Coast stop in Los Angeles at the Greek Theatre on May 25.
Fans can register now for the presale, which begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at damienrice.com, with the general sale starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 23.
Rice released “O” in February 2002, and won the Shortlist Prize for Artistic Achievement in Music, an annual U.S. music award created in 2001 by Greg Spotts and Tom Serig for albums that have sold less than 500,000 copies.
The certified Gold album was recorded at his home with help from his second cousin, composer David Arnold, and featured singer Lisa Hannigan.
Standout tracks included “9 Crimes,” “Cannonball,” “Delicate,” and “Volcano.” The hit “The Blower’s Daughter” also gained steam after its inclusion in the 2004 romantic drama “Closer,” which featured Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, and Clive Owen.
Rice has since released two albums, “9” in 2006 and “My Favorite Faded Fantasy” in 2014. He has also participated in several social justice campaigns, including Freedom Campaign, the Burma Campaign UK, and the U.S. Campaign for Burma to free Burmese democracy movement leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He campaigned for her release by writing the song “Unplayed Piano,” which he performed at the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo.
He also wrote the song “Making Noise” for the album “Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace” in support of the 14th Dalai Lama and Tibet, and “Lonely Soldier” for the Enough Project, and performed at the Iceland Inspires concert in July 2010 to promote tourism after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano.