Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Gregory Porter is bringing his warm, Gospel-rooted baritone to twelve stops across the German-speaking world this fall and winter, as part of “The Spirit of Christmas Tour” 2026. The tour is built around his 2023 record “Christmas Wish,” his first-ever Christmas album, released on Blue Note/Decca.
“Christmas Wish” is a tribute to Porter’s favorite time of year and to the artists who shaped his sound, among them Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, Dinah Washington and Nat King Cole. Alongside its holiday standards, the album includes three original songs, including the single “Everything’s Not Lost.”
Porter grew up in Bakersfield, California, where he was raised by his mother, Ruth, alongside seven siblings. The Bakersfield Gospel sound and his mother’s collection of Nat King Cole records left a lasting mark on his music. He first began singing in small Jazz clubs in San Diego while attending San Diego State University on a football scholarship, before a shoulder injury ended his athletic career and pushed him toward music full-time.
Grammy Nominations and Actual Prizes
After moving to New York, Porter built a following through a long-running residency at the Harlem club St. Nick’s Pub, out of which his touring band eventually took shape. His first two albums, “Water” (2010) and “Be Good” (2012), both earned Grammy nominations. His major breakthrough came with 2013’s “Liquid Spirit,” released on Blue Note, which sold more than a million copies worldwide and won him his first Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. His 2016 follow-up, “Take Me to the Alley,” earned him a second Grammy in the same category.
In the years since, Porter has continued to move between original songwriting and tribute work, releasing “Nat King Cole & Me” in 2017, “All Rise” in 2020 and the covers-and-favorites collection “Still Rising” in 2021. Beyond music, he has hosted the interview podcast “The Hang” and the cooking show “The PorterHouse with Gregory Porter,” drawing on family recipes from his childhood in Bakersfield.
Porter’s tour will take him to the following cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland:
- November 2nd: Congress Center Rosengarten, Mannheim
- November 4th: Historische Stadthalle, Wuppertal
- November 19th: The Hall, Dübendorf (Switzerland)
- December 6th: Musik- und Kongresshalle, Lübeck
- December 7th: HCC Hannover Congress Centrum
- December 8th: Konzerthaus, Dortmund
- December 11th: Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna (Austria)
- December 12th: Alte Oper, Frankfurt am Main
- December 14th: Philharmonie, Berlin
- December 15th: Isarphilharmonie, Munich
- December 16th: Liederhalle, Stuttgart
- December 18th: Platz der Deutschen Einheit, Hamburg
Tickets for the German, Austrian and Swiss dates are available here.
