Before hitting the stage Tuesday night, Hozier already made history at Forest Hills Stadium.
The Grammy-nominated rocker known for hits such as “Take Me To Church,” “Cherry Wine” and “Too Sweet” kicked off a sold-out, four-show run at the historic Queens music venue, with performances slated for Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
A Forest Hills spokesperson says the string of shows represents the first time in the venue’s 101 years that a single artist has sold out a run of that length.
Hozier, whose full name is Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, is in the midst of an international tour in support of his third studio album, “Unreal Unearth.” The project’s theme was inspired by Dante’s “Inferno,” which explores the nine circles of hell.
In March, the Irish singer-songwriter followed up the release with the four-song EP, “Unheard” which includes material originally written during recording sessions for “Unreal Unearth.” Recent Grammy winner Allison Russell, who is Hozier’s supporting act for the Forest Hills run, is featured on the track “Wildflower and Barley.”
“These are songs that might’ve made it to the circles of gluttony, limbo, violence and the outward ‘ascent’ …,” Hozier said about the new music, which has yielded his first Billboard Hot 100 chart topper, “Too Sweet.”
To his surprise, the song — a viral TikTok sensation — has become an international hit, bolting to No. 1 in Australia, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.
“I didn’t see it coming to this extent, for sure,” he told Variety. “I knew I wanted to release the song. I knew it was fun. It’s a song that did not (come out originally) because there was a choice between two songs for the album, and “Too Sweet” was kind of placed to the side. So I didn’t necessarily expect this kind of reaction.”
After his record-setting Forest Hills run, Hozier will take his show overseas with scheduled tour dates in Belgium, The Netherlands, Croatia and Switzerland among others.
