GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – If you want to sing a love song to celebrate Valentine’s Day, there are several familiar musical stars dotting the entertainment venues across North Carolina during February. There’s also a huge Broadway Series show stopping at two places.

And then of course there are plenty of sports, from regularly scheduled college and pro teams to special events. But we will get to those.

We start with two of the biggest names in country music, Blake Shelton and Carrie Underwood, appearing in Greensboro and Charlotte, respectively, and the biggest female name in the history of automobile drag queen – not the kind you are thinking – Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney.

Shelton, wrapping his final season as a host of “The Voice,” will bring his “Back to the Honky Tonk Tour” to the Greensboro Coliseum on Feb. 23. He has along upcoming star Carley Pearce, but there is no mention of his popstar wife, Gwen Stefani (who was with him in town a few years ago).

Underwood will stop with her “The Denim & Rhinestones Tour” at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Feb. 8. We presume she will have her jeans and jewelry (hence the name), if not an advertised opening act.

If you want to stick with music for a bit, you could note that the renowned Hootie & The Blowfish, which was created – and even has its own street – in Columbia, South Carolina, while its members were students at that Carolina, will perform at Raleigh’s PNC Arena on Feb. 17.

And you probably want to know that this is the original band with Hootie himself, Darius Rucker – the breakout country solo artist – back with originals Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Jim “Soni” Sonefled.

Then to hit a final but very familiar musical note is Journey, which is on its 50th anniversary tour and will stop at the Greensboro Coliseum on Feb. 11. Another venerable rock band, Toto, will be along for the ride.

Vroom, vroom

Speaking of along for the ride, that would be Muldowney, the longtime star of drag racing, which is those side-by-side, quarter-mile duels when semi-cars travel upwards of 338 miles per hour. She will appear Feb. 17-18at the20th anniversary Shriners Drag Racing and Hot Rod Expo in the Greensboro Coliseum.

Muldowney, now 82, is known as “The First Lady of Drag Racing,” much in the same way that Loretta Lynn held that title in country music. She was an iconic star of the National Hot Rod Association and was the first person (man or woman) to win two and then three of the titles in Top Fuel (which is the division of those really fast cars).

In 1983 the featured film “Heart Like a Wheel,” starring Bonnie Bedelia and Beau Bridges, told her story of a fight to race and return from serious injury.

Sports inside and out

That’s hardly the only sports-connected event being staged this month, of course, with significant college basketball and the professional hockey of the Carolina Hurricanes packing arenas across the state. There’s also wrestling of the high school state championship variety (Feb. 16-18 in Greensboro) or the WWE sideshow (Feb. 4 in Charlotte).

But it’s the sports event that is NOT in an arena that might draw the most curiosity. On Feb. 18, the National Hockey League will bring its stadium series to Carter-Finely Stadium in Raleigh. Yes, there will be hockey in the place where the Wolfpack play football.

The Hurricanes will play at 8 that night, too, but against the Washington Capitals and not in their usual facility. ABC will televise.

This series was supposed to stop in Raleigh in 2021, but it was canceled that year because of the “you-know-what” pandemic. This is the Capitals’ fourth such game, and they’ve won the prior three.

Meanwhile, college basketball will be hitting its highest level with key match-ups, including:

• In that aforementioned PNC Arena, NC State will host big rivals North Carolina, Wake Forest and Clemson among its five ACC foes.
• Wake Forest will have UNC and Notre Dame as its guests at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.
• UNC-Greensboro plays three key Southern Conference games against perennial powerhouses Furman and Wofford and state rival Western Carolina.
• Winston-Salem State also will play Livingstone in a men’s/women’s doubleheader at Joel.

A really big show

The headliner of the stage this coming month is “The Book of Mormon,” the hilarious sendup of the Mormon church whose humor and music are not for everyone.

The show will be staged first at the Durham Performing Arts Center on Feb. 14-19, then the next week at the Steven Tanger Center of the Performing Arts in Greensboro, on Feb. 21-26.

The show, the first by “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, has grossed more than $500 million and is among the 15 longest-running shows on Broadway. It won nine Tony Awards when it opened in 2011.

Other stuff

Also speaking of theater, “The Jagged Little Pill,” which stopped in Greensboro in December to showcase recording artist Alanis Morissette’s Broadway version of her famous album, will be back but in Durham, on Feb. 29-March 5.

Other dates to note:

• “Cats,” another venerable Broadway show that just closed in Greensboro, opens tonight in Durham and continues through Sunday.
• Jurassic World Live will be at the Greensboro Coliseum on Feb. 3-5 – the same day as a big gymnastics event – but we don’t expect any real dinosaurs. But there could be some loud fake ones in the arena.
• More music: “Adam Sandler Live” will stop at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Feb. 18, and Brandi Carlile will be at DPAC on Feb. 22.
• On the same day Journey visits Greensboro (Feb. 11), there will be two events in the Special Events Center: the Greensboro Wine & Chocolate Festival and the “Rockzilla Tour,” featuring Falling in Reverse and Papa Roach.
• There will be two speakers from the Guilford College Bryan Series at the Tanger Center: immunologist Kizzmekia Corbett on Feb. 6 and celebrity chef Jose Andres on Feb. 28.

The full list

Here’s a deeper list of events, with links to sites where you can learn about times, tickets, parking and other information.

Greensboro Coliseum Complex

1021 West Gate City Blvd., Greensboro

Feb. 1: Greensboro Swarm vs. Grand Rapids, Novant Health Fieldhouse

Feb. 3: Greensboro Swarm vs. Grand Rapids, Novant Health Fieldhouse

Feb. 3-5: Greensboro Gymnastics Invitational, Special Events Center

Feb. 3-5: “Jurassic World Live,” in Greensboro Coliseum

Feb. 4: NCHSAA Dual Team Wrestling State Championships, Novant Health Fieldhouse

Feb. 4: NCHSAA Regional Swimming, Greensboro Aquatic Center

Feb. 5: Greensboro Swarm vs. Windy City, Novant Health Fieldhouse

Feb. 7: UNCG vs. East Tennessee, men’s basketball, in Greensboro Coliseum

Feb. 8: Greensboro Swarm vs. Salt Lake City, in Novant Health Fieldhouse

Feb. 10 Greensboro Swarm vs. Fort Wayne, in Novant Health Fieldhouse

Feb. 10: “The Legendz of the Streetz Tour Reloaded,” in Greensboro Coliseum

Feb. 11: Greensboro Wine & Chocolate Festival, Special Events Center

Feb. 11: “Rockzilla Tour,” featuring Falling in Reverse and Papa Roach, Special Events Center

Feb. 11: “Journey 50th Anniversary Tour,” with special guest Toto, in Greensboro Coliseum

Feb. 12: UNCG vs. Wofford, men’s basketball, in Greensboro Coliseum

Feb. 16-18: NCHSAA Wrestling State Championships, in Greensboro Fieldhouse

Feb. 17-18: 20th anniversary Shriners Drag Racing and Hot Rod Expo, in Greensboro Coliseum

Feb. 22 Greensboro Swarm vs. Cleveland, in Novant Health Fieldhouse

Feb. 22: UNCG vs. Western Carolina, men’s basketball, in Greensboro Coliseum

Feb. 23: Blake Shelton’s “Back to the Honky Tonk Tour,” with Carley Pearce, in Greensboro Coliseum

Feb. 24-25: Greensboro Swarm vs. Maine, Novant Health Fieldhouse

Feb. 24-26: Central Carolina Boat & Fishing Expo, Special Events Center

Feb. 24: Green Queen Bingo, at Piedmont Hall

Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts

300 North Elm St., Greensboro

Feb. 1: Jason Isbell + The 400 Unit

Feb. 6: Guilford CollegeBryan Series, immunologist Kizzmekia Corbett

Feb. 7-9: Riverdance “25th Anniversary Tour”

Feb. 10: “Royal Comedy Tour”

Feb. 11: Greensboro Symphony, with John Pizzarelli and Catherine Russell

Feb. 18: Greensboro Symphony, “A German Requiem”

Feb. 21-26: Broadway Series, “The Book of Mormon”

Feb. 28: Guilford CollegeBryan Series, celebrity chef Jose Andres

Durham Performing Arts Center

123 Vivian St., Durham

Jan. 31-Feb. 5: Broadway musical, “Cats”

Feb. 8: “Dancing with the Stars: Live! 2023 Tour”

Feb. 9-11: Widespread Panic

Feb. 14-19: Broadway Series, “The Book of Mormon”

Feb. 21: An Evening to Shine

Feb. 22: Brandi Carlile: A Special Solo Performance

Feb. 24-26: Riverdance 25th Anniversary Tour

Feb. 29-March 5: Broadway Series, “Jagged Little Pill”

Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum

2825 University Parkway, Winston-Salem

Feb. 5: Wake Forest vs. Clemson, women’s basketball

Feb. 7: Wake Forest vs. North Carolina, men’s basketball

Feb. 9: Wake Forest vs. NC State, women’s basketball

Feb. 11: Wake Forest vs. Georgia Tech, men’s basketball

Feb. 18: Winston Salem State vs. Livingstone, men’s and women’s basketball

Feb. 23: Wake Forest vs. Florida State, women’s basketball

Feb. 25: Wake Forest vs. Notre Dame, men’s basketball

Feb. 26: Wake Forest vs. Boston College, women’s basketball

Feb. 28: Wake Forest vs. Boston College, men’s basketball

PNC Arena

1499 Edwards Mill Road, Raleigh

Feb. 1: Florida State vs. NC State, men’s basketball

Feb. 4: Georgia Tech vs. NC State, men’s basketball

Feb. 11: New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes

Feb. 16: Montreal Canadiens at Carolina Hurricanes

Feb. 17: Hootie & the Blowfish, with SUSTO

Feb. 18: Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series, at Carter-Finley Stadium

Feb. 19: North Carolina vs. NC State, men’s basketball

Feb. 21: St. Louis Blues at Carolina Hurricanes

Feb. 22: Wake Forest vs. NC State, men’s basketball

Feb. 24: Ottawa Senators at Carolina Hurricanes

Feb. 25: Clemson vs. NC State, men’s basketball

Feb. 25: Anaheim Ducks at Carolina Hurricanes

Red Hat Amphitheater

500 South McDowell St., Raleigh

No events this month.

Spectrum Center

333 East Trade St., Charlotte

Feb. 4: WWE NXT Vengeance Day

Feb. 8: Carrie Underwood, The Denim & Rhinestones Tour

Feb. 17: Impractical Jokers, The DRIVE DRIVE Tour

Feb. 18: “Adam Sandler Live”

Feb. 26: Winter Jam 2023, with We The Kingdom, Jeremy Camp, Andy Mineo and Anne Wilson.