For so long, only the very biggest US country acts bothered the UK charts but Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood have, with 'Lady A', hit upon a winning formula. After the eponymous debut record loitered around the darkest end of the chart, follow-up 'Need You Now' broke into the UK Top 10 and was bettered still by last year's 'Own the Night', which peaked at No 4.

Both LPs topped the US country and main Billboard countdowns with 'Need You Know' selling half-a-million copies in its first week in the US alone. Grammy nominations (and a win), plus a dozen or so country music awards stateside, have seen Lady Antebellum satisfy country 'purists' as well as finding a crossover audience for their brand of accessible pop-country. And BBC Radio 2 loves them.

"Every time we've gone over to Europe, the fans there have given us such a warm welcome," Lady A's Dave Haywood told the band's website, adding that touring Europe "is going to be a blast".

There's every chance that the fans will be lining up once again (in their thousands) when Lady Antebellum kick off their European dates at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin on 10th July, followed by Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall and then the Manchester Apollo, before the London gig at the Hammersmith Apollo on 16th July 2012.

West Midlands fans of the band will be delighted to learn of a newly-confirmed show in their region. As part of their aforementioned UK jaunt, Lady Antebellum will now close the tour out at the Birmingham O2 Academy on 17th July. We will have tickets available for this show from 9am Friday 25th May, priced at £27.50.

Other shows on the tour are still available for purchase, including Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester and Hammersmith (also £27.50, except London which is £30). The band are also performing as support for Bruce Springsteen at Hard Rock Calling on 14th July - but that show is sold out.