By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Jan 11, 2023 at 9:36 AM

It may be getting cold and icy outside, but Summerfest brought a little "Heart on Fire" heat as the Big Gig announced country superstar Eric Church will serve as the music festival's opening night headliner on Thursday, June 22.

The "Drink In My Hand" hitmaker last came to Brew City just last summer, hitting American Family Insurance Field. He also hosted two nights at Fiserv Forum back in 2019 with no supporting act necessary. This time around, he'll be joined at the AmFam Amp by "Ex's & Oh's" singer Elle King.

Tickets for the Eric Church concert will go on sale beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 20, at Summerfest's website and Ticketmaster. There will, however, also be an online presale for Summerfest Insiders on Thursday, Jan. 19. Interested Insiders should look for a newsletter email with the access code on Thursday morning. To sign up as a Big Gig Insider, click here

With today's announcement, Summerfest has now mapped out five of its headlining acts for 2023: Eric Church on June 22, Zac Brown Band on June 23, James Taylor on June 24, Zach Bryan on July 7, and the tandem of Imagine Dragons and AJR on July 8. Obviously, there's much more to come – so stay tuned to OnMilwaukee for more Summerfest updates. 

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.