British experimental-rock band Black Country, New Road have unveiled a new chapter and it's headed straight for Australia and New Zealand. Riding high on the acclaim surrounding their bold reinvention in Forever Howlong, the band will launch a limited yet highly anticipated run across six cities in February–March 2026.

Purple Disturbance, the fierce and uncompromising post-punk/alt-rock four-piece from New South Wales, have officially joined forces with New World Artists, the booking agency behind some of Australia’s most trailblazing acts. For a young band already turning heads with their volatile live shows and razor-edged songs, this deal puts them on a major platform heading into 2026.

Here are the major music events, births, deaths and album releases on this day in music for 26 August:

In a dramatic turn, rapper, songwriter, and trailblazing producer Missy Elliott narrowly avoided heading to trial in a long-running copyright dispute, reportedly settling the case mere minutes before a jury was due to be selected in a Pennsylvania federal courtroom.

Britain’s brightest new pop phenomenon, Arthur Hill, has confirmed that his electric stage presence will finally reach Australian shores with the “Stella AusTour”, marking his long-awaited Aussie debut. The London-based singer-songwriter is set to ignite crowds at three headline shows: The Triffid, Brisbane (14 January), Factory Theatre, Sydney (15 January), and Max Watts, Melbourne (16 January).

Better Lovers, the hardcore supergroup, featuring members of Every Time I Die, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Fit For An Autopsy, are finally bringing their live show Down Under, with six cities locked in for January 2026.

New Zealand’s Six60 are preparing to etch their name into Australian music history with a once-in-a-lifetime show on the iconic Sydney Opera House Steps. On Thursday 11 December 2025, the group will bring their stadium-sized sound to an intimate outdoor setting in the heart of Sydney Harbour, promising fans a night to remember.

The Pretty Reckless are back with a shiver-inducing new single, For I Am Death, a hauntingly powerful teaser of what lies ahead for the chart-topping band.

London’s indefatigable rock sage Pete Townshend recently granted AARP The Magazine a deeply revealing interview, with the questioning prowess of Jim Sullivan guiding him through reflections on The Who’s swan song and his exhilarating future ahead.

UB40 featuring Ali Campbell have added a Perth date to their Big Love World Tour after strong demand across Australia, bringing one of reggae’s most distinctive voices back to the West Coast. The show will take place at Kings Park & Botanic Garden on Sunday, 18 January 2026.

Southern California post-hardcore band Dayseeker have unveiled their new single Shapeshift, along with a visualizer, ahead of the release of their sixth studio album Creature In The Black Night, due 24 October via Spinefarm.

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats are marking the tenth anniversary of their game-changing self-titled debut album with a deluxe reissue due October 10, bringing with it not just the original gold-certified record but also an entire album’s worth of demo recordings that show how the sound of the band was born.

For fans of Queen, John Deacon has long been the enigma of the band, a brilliant musician, masterful songwriter, and humble presence behind the scenes. Since the early 1990s, Deacon has shunned the spotlight, retiring quietly after Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991. But now, years later, he has quietly resurfaced, lending his signature alongside bandmates Roger Taylor and Brian May on a charity auction item, signalling, perhaps, that even the most private of souls can still make their mark in unexpected ways.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds will return home to Australia in January 2026 with the official announcement today of their Wild God Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand tour. The run of shows will be the band’s first in the region since 2022 and will bring their acclaimed Wild God album to life for local audiences.

The Beatles’ world lit up on 21 August 2025 when Apple Corps confirmed what had long been whispered: Anthology 4will arrive this November as part of a deluxe 8-CD / 12-LP box set. For many, the announcement was nothing short of historic—a long-awaited continuation of the celebrated mid-’90s Anthology trilogy. But while excitement has been intense, the news has also stirred division among fans. Some see Anthology 4 as a fitting final chapter, while others accuse it of being an unnecessary cash-grab.

In 1975, Patti Smith entered Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in New York City with a vision: to fuse the jagged energy of punk with the fluid imagery of poetry. That vision became Horses, one of the most groundbreaking debut albums in rock history. Now, half a century later, Sony has announced the 50th Anniversary Expanded Edition of Horses, a release that both celebrates the legacy of the record and offers fans newly unearthed material from Smith’s early years.

After 16 years away from Australian stages, Secondhand Serenade, the project of Californian singer-songwriter John Vesely, will return in December for three exclusive shows, this time accompanied by a symphony string section.

On 25 August 1975, Bruce Springsteen released Born To Run, the album that transformed him from a New Jersey barroom songwriter into one of the most important voices in rock history. Fifty years later, the record still stands as a landmark, both for its ambitious sound and for the way it defined Springsteen’s career.

Here are the major music events, births, deaths and album releases on this day in music for 25 August:

Sammy Hagar has always had a reputation for surrounding himself with powerhouse players, but his upcoming live album, Sammy Hagar & The Best Of All Worlds Band – The Residency (out October 10, 2025 via Big Machine Rock), brings a distinctly Australian twist. On keyboards, vocals and guitar is Rai Thistlethwayte, best known at home for fronting Thirsty Merc and more recently as a member of The Fabulous Caprettos. For Australian fans, the inclusion of Thistlethwayte in Hagar’s latest chapter is a striking reminder of how far the Sydney-born musician’s career has travelled.

It is Sunday afternoon in Australia so just for a bit of fun, he is a list of all of the Rolling Stones have recorded but have never performed live.

Nick Cave has let slip what Aussie fans have been hoping to hear for months: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds will return to Australia in January 2026 for the Wild God tour. In a recent post on his Red Hand Files website, Cave revealed the news with typical candour, writing:

Lionel Richie found himself at the centre of a crime scene last Friday morning when his Beverly Hills mansion was the target of an attempted burglary.

Here are the major music events, births, deaths and album releases on this day in music for 24 August:

Cheap Trick have unveiled their new single Twelve Gates, a track that sets the stage for the band’s 21st studio album All Washed Up, arriving November 14, 2025 via BMG.

On September 18, 1971, The Who took the stage at The Oval cricket ground in Kennington, south London, and delivered a performance that has been remembered as legendary and up until now, unreleased.

British band Wolf Alice have released their fourth studio album The Clearing, led by new focus track Just Two Girls, via Mushroom Music.

Lainey Wilson has dropped the deluxe edition of her chart-topping album Whirlwind, out now via BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville. The expanded release adds five brand-new songs to the original 14-track record: Bell Bottoms Up, King Ranch, King George, King James, Yesterday, All Day, Every Day, Peace, Love, and Cowboys and her fast-rising single Somewhere Over Laredo.

Here are the major music events, births, deaths and album releases on this day in music for 23 August:

Jon Stevens has been quietly heading towards a new album, feeding fans a song a week. This week, he is at week four with ‘Paradise’.