Colin Hay will lead the current Men At Work line-up with four additional Australian tour dates in October and November, marking 45 years since the release of the band’s landmark debut album, Business As Usual.
by Paul Cashmere
Men At Work will return to Australia for Red Hot Summer later this year with Colin Hay leading the current Los Angeles-based line-up for four more concerts in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Fremantle. The tour begins at Sydney’s State Theatre on October 20 before moving through Canberra and Melbourne and concluding at Fremantle Prison on November 12.
The timing coincides with the 45th anniversary of Business As Usual, the 1981 debut that transformed Men At Work from a Melbourne pub-rock band into one of the most successful Australian acts internationally. The album remains the group’s defining release, driven by songs including “Who Can It Be Now?”, “Down Under” and “Be Good Johnny”.
“What has clearly stood the test of time, are the songs. Forty-five years on, I still hear them in the street, on the radio, in supermarkets, they are still going strong,” Hay said.
Business As Usual was released in Australia in November 1981 and subsequently became a major international success. In the United States, it spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, while its five-week run at No. 1 in the United Kingdom established Men At Work among the first Australian acts to achieve sustained chart dominance in both markets. Noise11 has previously documented the album’s international significance, including its status as one of the most successful Australian albums of its era.
The album also formed part of an unprecedented period for Australian music. By early 1983, Men At Work had simultaneously topped the US album and singles charts with Business As Usual and “Down Under”. The achievement followed the group’s breakthrough in Australia and New Zealand and helped demonstrate that Australian rock could compete at the highest level of the international market.
Hay has continued performing the Men At Work catalogue long after the original band ceased operating. His current version of the group was established around Los Angeles-based musicians, allowing him to continue presenting the songs internationally while maintaining his parallel solo career.
“I would never have predicted back in 1985, that 40 years on, I would still be fronting Men At Work, this version featuring Cubans, a Peruvian, an American, and me,” Hay said. “Over the last few years, I have gone out on tour as Men At Work, on a quest of discovery. To discover whether or not we still have an audience. Turns out we do, people of all ages, of all different backgrounds, who find something in the songs that brings them joy.”
Hay’s continued association with the catalogue comes alongside a substantial solo career. He has released a series of solo albums since Men At Work’s original break-up and has also been a regular member of Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band. Noise11 has previously reported on Hay’s ability to move between his solo material and the Men At Work repertoire, including his 2026 Melbourne performance, where songs such as “Who Can It Be Now?”, “Overkill”, “It’s A Mistake” and “Down Under” remained central to his live repertoire.
Men At Work formed in Melbourne in 1979 around Hay, Ron Strykert and Jerry Speiser, with Greg Ham and John Rees joining the line-up. The group developed through Melbourne’s pub-rock circuit before signing with CBS Records and recording Business As Usual with producer Peter McIan.
The success continued with Cargo in 1983, which reached No. 1 in Australia and No. 3 in the United States. Songs including “Overkill” and “It’s A Mistake” extended the group’s international run. A third album, Two Hearts, followed in 1985, but internal changes and departures brought the original era of Men At Work to an end soon afterwards.
Hay subsequently established himself as a solo performer. He and Ham revived Men At Work for international touring in 1996, with the group continuing in various configurations until another separation in the early 2000s. Hay later revived the Men At Work name with a new line-up in 2019. Noise11 reported on that return when Hay announced plans to tour Europe under the Men At Work name with Los Angeles-based musicians.
The catalogue has continued to find new audiences. “Down Under” was reworked in 2021 by Australian producer Luude as a drum and bass track, with Hay re-recording the vocal for the official release. The Luude featuring Colin Hay version reached the UK and Australian charts in 2022.
The 2026 Australian concerts therefore place the current touring version of Men At Work against the backdrop of a catalogue that has remained commercially and culturally recognisable across several generations. Hay’s recent Australian appearances have also demonstrated that the songs continue to sit alongside his solo work rather than existing solely as a historical retrospective.
The Australian dates will begin in Sydney in October, followed by Canberra and Melbourne in November. The tour concludes at Fremantle Prison, giving Australian audiences an opportunity to hear the Men At Work catalogue performed by the Hay-led line-up during the 45th anniversary year of Business As Usual.
Tour Dates
20 October 2026, Sydney, State Theatre
30 October 2026, Canberra, Royal Theatre
4 November 2026, Melbourne, Palais Theatre
12 November 2026, Fremantle, Fremantle Prison
Ticket Details
Presale begins Thursday, 13 August 2026. General public tickets go on sale Friday, 14 August 2026.
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