The Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix has unveiled the first artists for its 2026 entertainment program, confirming performances from Split Enz, Goo Goo Dolls, Mark Ronson, DJ Snake, Major Lazer Soundsystem and Rev Run, but the announcement stops short of including Paul McCartney, whose name surfaced earlier this month following comments made by Neil Finn on Australian television.

A one-night tribute concert celebrating the catalogue of Australian music icon John Farnham will take place at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena on 20 September 2026, bringing together more than 120 performers, a 38 piece orchestra, choir and Farnham's longtime touring band in support of Head and Neck Cancer Australia. The event, titled The Songs Of John Farnham: A Living Legend The Celebration Concert, will feature Australian and international artists performing songs from across Farnham's career, although organisers confirmed Farnham himself will not perform.

by Paul Cashmere The cost of seeing live music has transformed dramatically over the past four decades, with arena and stadium concert ticket prices now outpacing inflation at a rate few other entertainment sectors can match. In the mid-1980s, a major concert ticket typically cost between $12 and $15. In 2026, premium tickets for the world's biggest tours regularly exceed $500, while VIP packages can stretch beyond $1,000. The shift has fundamentally changed not only the economics of touring, but also the behaviour of audiences in Australia, North America and Europe.

Sepultura have confirmed the final concert of their career, with the Brazilian metal pioneers set to perform one last time on November 7, 2026 at Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu in São Paulo, Brazil. The farewell event will conclude the band's long-running Celebrating Life Through Death tour and bring to a close more than four decades of activity that reshaped thrash, groove and death metal on a global scale.

five-date arena and theatre tour, marking her first run through the region following recent international dates with Sean Paul and renewed global attention around her early 2000s catalogue.

Hugh Cornwell has postponed his Australian tour, with the former Stranglers frontman now set to return for a rescheduled run of dates in December 2026.

Alex James says Britpop was less a genre than a moment in time, one shaped by British songwriting traditions and a reaction to changing rock culture. Speaking to Noise11 ahead of the 2026 Australian Britpop Classical tour, the Blur bassist reflected on how the movement emerged and why its music continues to resonate decades later.

Lorna Shore will return to Australia in October 2026 for their biggest headline run in the region to date, with the New Jersey deathcore band also confirming its first ever New Zealand performances.

Aloe Blacc will return to Australia in September with his Wake Me Up Tour, marking the Grammy nominated singer's first full national run across the country in more than seven years.

Night At The Parkland returns to Brisbane in September with Aloe Blacc joining an expanded line-up that stretches the Roma Street Parkland concert series across three weekends and nine performances.

Rat Scabies says punk music did not arrive with a defined rulebook, recalling a period when The Damned and Sex Pistols were still playing to small audiences and the scene was only beginning to understand what it was becoming.

Chris Botti is reshaping his live repertoire again, introducing Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' global hit ‘Die With A Smile' into Australian tour performances as the Grammy-winning trumpeter continues to blur the lines between jazz, pop and cinematic orchestration.

The Huxton Creepers will mark the 40th anniversary of their debut album 12 Days To Paris with a vinyl reissue and their first national tour in 15 years, performing the record in full for the first time in the band's history.

ARIA Award winning Gamilaraay artist Thelma Plum will return to stages across Australia this July and August for her first national acoustic tour, revisiting songs from across her catalogue in a stripped back live setting.

Jason Donovan will return to Melbourne, the city where his career began, to lead a new stage production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest at the Athenaeum Theatre in a limited season beginning in November.

Hans Zimmer will return to Australia in October 2026 with Hans Zimmer Live: The Next Level, a newly designed arena production that follows a major European run and marks the composer's latest evolution of his large scale live concert format.

Dom Dolla will return to Melbourne for an Australian exclusive stadium event in September, bringing a new large scale production to his hometown after becoming the first electronic artist to headline an Australian stadium show.

Ocean Grove will bring their Oddworld Underground Australian Tour to stages around the country this August, with Melbourne's heavy music collective returning home for a six date headline run alongside Cane Hill, Deficit and Blinder.

Iron Maiden have played the first show of their Run For Your Lives world tour in Athens, Greece, giving Australian fans their clearest picture yet of what to expect when the band returns in November 2026. The opening night leaned heavily on the earliest chapters of the band's catalogue and restored several classics absent from their previous Australian visit.

The Sisters Of Mercy will return to Australia in late 2026 with a five date national tour, bringing Andrew Eldritch and the long-running dark rock outfit back to local stages for their first Australian shows in several years.

The Script will return to Australia in March 2027 for a three city arena run as the Irish band prepares to launch a new album era with The User's Guide To Being Human.

Gipsy Kings featuring Tonino Baliardo have released a final preview of their upcoming album Historia with the new song "Caballero", arriving as the group expands a wider campaign that also includes a new documentary and an international tour schedule.

Rat Scabies says The Damned's recent album Not Like Everybody Else became an emotional return to the studio and a tribute to founding guitarist Brian James, with one track carrying particular weight through James' final performance with the band.

Chris Botti's current live show is revealing a broader picture of the Grammy-winning trumpeter's musical range, pairing contemporary material including Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' ‘Die With A Smile' with film scores, jazz standards and classic pop songs ahead of his June 2026 Australian tour.

Sparks frontman Ron Mael has reflected on two of the band's most unlikely celebrity connections, an unexpected friendship with Cate Blanchett and the time Paul McCartney paid tribute by impersonating him in a music video.

The Jungle Giants have expanded their national tour in support of Experiencing Feelings Of Joy, adding a broad run of regional Australian shows following the album's chart debut and major city theatre dates.

The Meanies are expanding their live schedule through 2026 with interstate dates, a new split release with Dad Fight and a return to Western Australia for the first time in three years.

Chip Z’Nuff says Enuff Z’Nuff’s breakthrough with ‘New Thing’ on MTV changed the band’s trajectory overnight, taking the Chicago group from club stages to national television and arena tours during the late 1980s rock boom.

TSIM, the rebranded touring incarnation of Australian provocateurs TISM, will undertake their first national tour in more than three decades following recent headline performances at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne's PICA.

Kevin Morby will return to Australia in November 2026 for a run of headline and festival dates behind his eighth studio album Little Wide Open, recorded with producer Aaron Dessner and released this month through Dead Oceans.