Singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen, Texas A&M Class of 1978, will play his final show in Aggieland on Sept. 2 at the formal opening of Texas A&M’s new Aggie Park.
The concert will be free and held at Aggie Park’s Performance Pavilion. Aggie Park, a $35 million project, is expected to be completed later this summer.
The show will begin at 7 p.m. with two opening acts — Max Stalling, A&M Class of 1989, and The Barn Dogs, which is a band comprised of current A&M students. The concert is scheduled to end before Midnight Yell, ahead of A&M’s home opening football game against Sam Houston State on Sept. 3.
Keen started his music career in Aggieland. He is retiring from the road this year after 41 years of touring.
“Through his music and his generosity, Robert has brought tremendous distinction to Texas A&M and the Aggie Network,” Porter Garner, president and CEO of The Association of Former Students, said in a statement. “It’s fitting that his farewell concert in Aggieland will take place in Aggie Park. It is going to be an outstanding show featuring an exceptional artist in a premier venue.”
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Keen was named a distinguished alumnus of A&M in 2018. He has played at the university a number of times, including at benefit concerts after the Bonfire collapse in 1999 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017. He last played in the area in October 2021 at Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater.
“I have the highest respect for Robert as a man and as an artist,” Garner said. “He is a great Aggie, a thoughtful and honorable gentleman, and one of the greatest singer-songwriters of our time.”
The show will be free to attend due to sponsorships from Southwest Airlines, the A&M chancellor’s office, the A&M president’s office and former A&M students Bob and Kelly Jordan.