Ahead of two sold-out 3Arena shows this December and following the incredible international success of his debut album Without Fear, Dermot Kennedy today announces his biggest homeland headline shows to date at Malahide Castle in Dublin and Irish Independent Park in Cork in summer 2020.

The announcement comes ahead of his back-to-back sold-out shows at 3Arena next month and on the heels of a triumphant summer, including a major set at Electric Picnic.

“I actually felt strangely calm at Electric Picnic, and I don’t know why,” said a smiling Kennedy, recalling his stunning homecoming set, in a recent interview with Hot Press. His set attracted one of the biggest crowds of the weekend. “Last year was different, because I didn’t know what to expect. I was real nervous, and I was kind of pissed off when I got off the stage – because I was thinking, ‘That was good, but I didn’t live it’."

This time, Kennedy will be well-seasoned and he'll have his debut album, Without Fear, at the helm of his set. Kennedy described Without Fear as, “my best effort in presenting myself to the world." And as ever, it shows his ability to span a whole range of emotions, often in the space of just one song.

"Exposing his darkest vulnerabilities across 13 tracks, Kennedy has gone the extra mile, by presenting one of the finest debut albums of the year," wrote Hot Press's Lucy O'Toole of the album.

“I wanted it to represent darkness and sorrow but also hope, and that battle between them, and the way that in life you’ll inevitably experience beautiful things and terrible things,” he says of the LP. Without Fear dwells directly on a time when, just as he fell in love, he lost a close family friend. Writing songs has helped him deal with that rollercoaster time. “This is the only way I know how to put feelings across,” he says. “Great people like Van Morrison, they did this too. So, you’ve got to do it.”

Undeniably, Kennedy is on the way to becoming one of the greats himself. Thanks to the success of songs like ‘Lost’, ‘Outnumbered’ and the career-defining ‘Power Over Me,’ he has gained over 750 million streams and boasts 11.5 million listeners monthly on Spotify alone. He has received a nod in the BBC Sound Of 2019 and was voted NPR Slingshot’s Best New Artist of 2018. He has toured Europe, America and Australia, and made his debut on US television on the Stephen Colbert show, soon followed by an incredible performance on The Ellen Show. “I’m still pinching myself every time we put a tour on sale and it sells out,” says Kennedy, whose hypnotic live shows have become word-of-mouth sensations.

Tickets for the summer tour are priced €49.90 and will go on sale next Friday, 8 November at 9AM on Ticketmaster.ie.