Bon Jovi will return this October with a brand-new collaboration record, Forever (Legendary Edition), set for release on October 24, 2025. The 14-track album finds Jon Bon Jovi and the band reimagining the spirit of their 2024 record Forever with the help of an all-star guest list. The project arrives after Jon Bon Jovi’s vocal cord surgery, a setback that forced him to step away from touring while still creatively hungry to share music.

Grammy-nominated star Jelly Roll has announced a brand-new show in Townsville as part of his Down Under 2025 Tour for Face To Face Touring. The addition comes after overwhelming demand, making Townsville the northernmost stop on his first ever visit to Australia and New Zealand. The show will take place on 6 November 2025 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, with a festival-style stage setup on the field and an all-ages audience.

Australian metal titans Parkway Drive will mark two decades of chaos, fire and stadium-sized riffs with a very different kind of show. On 17 September 2025, the band will play a one-off warm-up gig at Berlin’s legendary Metropol.

British-Sri Lankan trailblazer M.I.A. will return to Australia in October for two exclusive headline shows in Melbourne and Sydney, adding to her already anticipated performance at Adelaide’s Harvest Rock festival.

Melbourne is set to swing harder than ever this spring, with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF) 2025 unveiling its most ambitious program to date. From 17 to 26 October, the city will host more than 500 artists from 18 countries, presenting over 150 performances across 40 venues.

August 28 stands out in music history as a day of endings, beginnings, and cultural milestones. It was on this date that The Beatles played their last official concert at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, closing the book on their touring years, while Bob Dylan first crossed paths with the band, sparking a new creative direction. Tammy Wynette recorded her defining anthem “Stand by Your Man,” and Tina Turner reached No.1 in the US with “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” cementing her comeback. The day also brought landmark albums from Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Velvet Underground, and R.E.M., while later generations would see Beyoncé and Florence Welch born on this date. August 28 continues to resonate as a turning point where legacies were launched and legends redefined.

Southeast Asia’s premier music export platform, AXEAN Festival, has unveiled its final lineup for this year’s edition, promising two days of electrifying performances across three stages at Jimbaran Hub, Bali. Set for September 13–14, 2025, the festival will showcase 43 acts from Indonesia and across the region, blending established names with rising independent talent.

The Australian live music industry is built on the people who work behind the curtain. From the audio engineer who balances the mix to the lighting technician who sets the stage ablaze with colour, live shows depend on skilled crew. Now, a new initiative spearheaded by CrewCare is giving the next generation of backstage talent the chance to break into the industry with real training and real jobs.

Slayer will return to the stage this September for a rare headline show on the U.S. east coast, confirming a massive one-night-only concert at Hersheypark Stadium, Pennsylvania, on September 20, 2025.

Abel Tesfaye, known worldwide as The Weeknd, is reportedly in early talks to secure a staggering US$1 billion financing deal using his music catalogue as collateral. The negotiations are said to be taking place with New York private equity firm Lyric Capital Group, positioning Tesfaye for what could become one of the largest music-rights backed financing arrangements ever for a single artist.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have officially announced they’re engaged. Their joint Instagram post, captioned with the cheeky line, “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married”, was met with a tidal wave of adoration from fans worldwide.

ARIA Award-winning indie-rock powerhouse Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers are back with their second album GLORY, set for release on 7 November 2025 via Community Music / Mom + Pop. To mark the announcement, the band have dropped a fiery new single MOTHER, featuring guitarist Scarlett McKahey on lead vocals for the first time. Its accompanying video premieres tonight at 6pm AEST (27 August 2025) on YouTube.

Tom Curtain has built a career out of telling the stories of rural and regional Australia. A multiple Golden Guitar winner, horseman, outback entertainer, and founder of the Katherine Outback Experience, Curtain is as comfortable in the saddle as he is on the stage. With his sixth studio album Here’s To You set for release on 22 August 2025 via ABC Music, Curtain once again shines a spotlight on the people, landscapes and experiences that make the bush what it is.

Australian surf-rock duo Hockey Dad have unveiled their brand-new single All Hat No Cattle today, alongside the announcement of their forthcoming EP The Clip, which will be released independently on 12 September.

ARIA-nominated songwriter and storyteller Mo’Ju will release a landmark live album, Mo’Ju with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Double J Live at the Wireless), on Friday September 26 via ABC Music. Recorded at Melbourne’s Hamer Hall in 2023, the project captures Mo’Ju’s songs reimagined with the grandeur of a full symphony orchestra, cementing another milestone in a career defined by bold reinvention.

Melbourne heavy innovators Thornhill will return to home soil in 2026 for their biggest headline tour yet, celebrating their acclaimed 2025 album Bodies with a run of national shows in February. Joining them will be rising American star Amira Elfeky, Japanese genre-breakers Paledusk, and Melbourne’s own Heavensgate.

Aotearoa punk agitators Dick Move have announced the release of their third studio album Dream, Believe, Achieve, due out 14 November via 1:12 Records and Flying Nun Records. The band has also unleashed the snarling single ‘Nurses’, a furious protest anthem that takes aim at neoliberal policy and the chronic underfunding of frontline healthcare.

Jimmy O. Yang, the Hong Kong-born, Los Angeles-raised comedian who broke through on HBO’s Silicon Valley before finding global fame in Crazy Rich Asians, will return to Australia in late 2025 with his most ambitious stand-up shows yet.

Melbourne Youth Orchestras will debut The Big Busk in 2025, transforming Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market into a full-day celebration of music and fundraising on Saturday 20 September.

There are few voices in American music that carry the weight of history, faith, and resilience quite like Mavis Staples. Now 86, Staples is still moving forward with the same passion that has defined her life in music, announcing the release of her new album Sad And Beautiful World for November 7. Produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee, Nathaniel Rateliff), the record is a sweeping celebration of survival and connection, featuring appearances from some of music’s greatest names.

A fresh and intimate window into Jimi Hendrix’s New York chapter has arrived with the nine-minute short film Jimi Hendrix’s New York, a companion piece to the expansive Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision deluxe box set.

Melbourne’s Live at the Gardens series will hit euphoric heights this November with a triple-bill of Australian electronic heavyweights. Miami Horror, Sneaky Sound System and Bag Raiders will join forces for a one-night-only dancefloor celebration under the stars at the Royal Botanic Gardens on Saturday, 29 November 2025.

Here are the major music events, births, deaths and album releases on this day in music for 27 August:

Salt-N-Pepa are, taking on Universal Music Group in a battle over copyright ownership that could reshape how legacy artists control their music. Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton launched their lawsuit earlier this year, accusing Universal of unlawfully blocking their attempts to exercise termination rights, provisions in U.S. copyright law that allow artists to reclaim their work 35 years after handing it over in early contracts. Salt-N-Pepa say they followed every legal step, yet Universal refused their claim.

Steve Martin has spent decades balancing comedy, acting, writing and music, but his love for the banjo has always been more than a hobby. On October 17, Martin will join forces with banjo trailblazer Alison Brown for their new collaborative album Safe, Sensible and Sane, a star-studded roots music project set to be one of the year’s most intriguing releases.

The Doors’ newly issued Live in Bakersfield, August 21, 1970 is one of the most compelling live documents to surface from the band’s archives in years. Released on both CD and limited edition vinyl, the concert captures Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore in a unique and unpredictable setting.

Manchester’s unsung pulse, drummer Mike Joyce, finally steps out from behind The Smiths’ jangly guitar riffs with his much-anticipated memoir, The Drums, due for release in November 2025.

Grammy-winning artist Lil Nas X, born Montero Lamar Hill, has found himself in serious legal trouble following a shocking early-morning arrest in Los Angeles.

Tom Waits’ Nighthawks at the Diner is being reissued for its 50th anniversary on October 24, with ANTI- Records pressing the landmark album onto three limited-edition yellow vinyl variants. More than just a re-release, this marks a celebration of one of the most unusual and defining recordings of Waits’ early career.

Berlin-based producer Mechatok, born Emir Timur Tokdemir in 1998, is set to make his Australian debut with a four-city headline tour in March 2026. Kicking off in Brisbane before heading to Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, the tour marks a new chapter in the rising star’s career. Tickets go on sale at 11 am local time on Friday, 29 August.