If you fell head-over-cowboy-boots for Drake Milligan during his America’s Got Talent run, consider this your official notice: the Fort Worth firebrand just turned 2025 into his victory lap.
Fresh off a sweaty, out-of-this-world set on CMA Fest’s Chevy Vibes Stage — his third straight year at country’s biggest fan party — Milligan sat down with Celeb Secrets to talk surprise duets, a globe-trotting “In Concert” tour, and the full-length record that’s about to make the honky-tonk hitmaker even harder to ignore.
“We lucked out — it’s beautiful out here,” Milligan smiled, breathing in the breezy Nashville air just moments after stepping off stage. The last time he tried to tame Nashville’s summer humidity, lightning cut his Riverfront set short; this year the only electricity came from the crowd screaming along to “Sounds Like Something I’d Do.”
“I’m real good at just popping in on Sunday, getting everything done, and heading home,” he laughed — a perk when “home” is Music City.
Only Drake could hop a 5 a.m. flight from a sold-out show in Colorado, tear up CMA Fest, then casually drop the fact that Blake Shelton yanked him onstage for an impromptu cover of George Strait’s “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.”
“[Blake Shelton] brought me up on stage and we did ‘All My Ex’s Live in Texas’ in Texas,” he shared. “That was fun.”
That viral night set the tone for his newly announced Drake Milligan In Concert run: a 2025 itinerary that kicked off at day one of Stagecoach 2025 and continues to thread the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Along the way he’ll warm arenas for Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan, and Blake Shelton, with VIP tickets offering a one-song acoustic set and Q&A hang.
Touring with Luke is less about fancy headliner perks and more about soaking up the blueprint. “Luke hangs out — some artists, you never know where they are. His whole crew’s a well-oiled machine,” Drake told us, adding that he’s stealing the superstar’s trick of folding his openers into the main set so the night feels like “one big party.”
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Milligan’s debut LP Dallas/Fort Worth topped both the iTunes all-genre and country charts, but the 26-year-old says Album No. 2 is where he finally knows “what I’m doing.” He’s been stashing songs for years — “some are seven years old, some are three months” — and the full-length cuts he just wrapped swing from honky-tonk heaters to vintage-leaning curveballs. Expect the same Strait-meets-Elvis swagger, just sharper and bolder.
“I’m always trying to find that old school sound. I try to do old school stuff in a new way and try to find stuff that kind of fills in the gaps a little bit,” he revealed. I try to not be too repetitive with my music. I try to find a new kind of sounds that still pays homage to those whole touch of roots.
“It’s hard for me to not go any other direction than pretty county, and country music is in a great space right now where we’re kind of open to that right now,” he continued. “So there’s a lot of room for real true hardcore country music right now, and I’m excited to get it out there and see what people think about it.”
Alongside the tour and album buzz, Drake’s still finding ways to show fans new sides of himself. His recent EP Jukebox Songs is a fan favorite — especially the viral hit “I Got A Problem,” which earned #1 on Australia’s Country Radio Chart.
Plus, he’s tapping into his acting chops with YouTube’s “Girl Problems” short film and Living Room Sessions, where fans get an intimate look at his songwriting and acoustic stylings.
When we asked Drake to sum up his current era emoji-style, he fired off beer, sleepy face, and a lightning bolt. “It’s electric,” he shrugged — and honestly, same.
Drake isn’t just here to play cowboy — he’s building a legacy out of neon lights, grit, and grit-your-teeth vocals. Whether you first saw him crooning Elvis on AGT or blasting “Sounds Like Something I’d Do” in the Jeep with your windows down, Drake Milligan is the real deal. And he’s got the stats, the story, and the stage presence to prove it.
So cue the CMA Fest TV special on Hulu, and snag those Drake Milligan In Concert tickets before they sell out. Because if 2025’s any indication, Drake’s not just the future of country — he’s the moment.
For more on Drake’s music, make sure to watch our full interview from CMA Fest 2025 below.
For more coverage from CMA Fest 2025, click here.
