Chris Janson (Photo provided)

MALONE — Platinum-selling country music singer Chris Janson and former Foreigner lead singer Lou Gramm are among the stars coming to the Star of the North this August for the Franklin County Fair — if the COVID-19 pandemic allows it.

Also in the fair’s entertainment lineup will be the Roots and Boots Tour featuring a trio of country stars from the 1990s: Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin and Collin Raye. These three have almost 70 top 40 country hits between them. They will perform Friday, Aug. 6 stating at 7 p.m.

Gramm will be part of the ’80s Rock Tour, along with Steve Augeri, who succeeded Steve Perry as lead singer of Journey from 1998 to 2006, and Asia Featuring John Payne. The original Asia, popular in the early ’80s for songs such as “Heat of the Moment,” featured Payne as its frontman from 1991 to 2006, and the band that will perform at the Franklin County Fair is Payne’s spinoff group. They will perform Saturday, Aug. 7 stating at 8 p.m.

Both the Roots and Boots Tour and the ’80s Rock Tour were scheduled for the 2020 Franklin County Fair, which was canceled due to the pandemic.

Janson is the Missouri-raised singer and songwriter behind many hit country songs of the last five years including “Good Vibes” and “Done” — both of which hit number 1 on the Country Airplay chart — as well as Buy Me a Boat,” “Drunk Girl” and “Fix A Drink.” He will perform Saturday, Aug. 14 stating at 7 p.m.

Tickets to the shows — which are separate from a regular fair admission ticket — are expected to go on sale March 1 online at frcofair.com and at the Franklin County Fair office in Malone. These are separate from regular admission tickets to the fair, which is regionally famous for its agricultural exhibitions, rides, vendors and other carnival attractions.

The Franklin County Fair has been a Malone mainstay since the 1820s and has been at the same site since the 1850s. It didn’t happen last year, and whether it does in 2021 is still uncertain.