James Taylor bringing 'American Standard' tour to Pittsburgh

Legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor will follow up the Feb. 28 release of his new album, “American Standard,” with a series of summer concert dates.

Taylor will perform June 16 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

The 26-city tour, with special guest Jackson Browne, kicks off May 15 in New Orleans and concludes July 10 in Camden, N.J.

Tour information is available at tour.jamestaylor.com.

The new collection marks Taylor’s 19th studio album and his first release since 2015’s “Before This World,” his first No. 1 career album, according to a release. On “American Standard,” Taylor plays his version of 14 iconic songs of the 20th-century, including “My Blue Heaven,” “Almost Like Being In Love,” “The Nearness of You,” “Pennies From Heaven,” and “Ol’ Man River.”

“I know most of these songs from the original cast recordings of the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals,” Taylor says in a release. “In terms of how they were performed and recorded before, we paid attention to the chords and melody, but we were interested in doing something new; and in bringing something new to it, we’ve reinterpreted the songs, that’s what makes it worth doing.”

Taylor is known for hits going back to the early 1970s, such as “Fire and Rain,” “Sweet Baby James,” “Handy Man” and “Carolina in My Mind.”

Over more than 50 years, Taylor has sold more than 100 million albums, earning gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards since the release of his self-titled debut album in 1968. Taylor has won multiple Grammy Awards, and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and the Songwriters halls of fame.

He received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2012. In 2015, Taylor was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 2016, he received the Kennedy Center Honors, which are presented annually to individuals who have enriched American culture by distinguished achievement in the performing arts.