Lenny Kravitz performance at John Cain Arena was one of those unforgettable moments in live music. Real musicians performing real songs by a real rock star. For any young musician watching in the audience last night, this was a benchmark ‘How To Do It’ performance.

The Black Sorrows returned to Melbourne Recital Centre on 22 November 2025 with a show that honoured more than four decades of music. Close to 50 musicians have been part of the group since the early years, yet founder Joe Camilleri remains the steady force at the front. His voice still rings clear and strong, and his energy has not faded.

Josh Groban will return to Australia and New Zealand in 2026, with the GEMS World Tour set to showcase the full scale of his catalogue, his theatre triumphs, and his enduring influence as one of the most distinctive vocalists of the modern era. The tour marks his first regional visit since 2016, with fans welcoming the return of a voice that helped define the pop-classical crossover era.

Vikki Thorn spent three decades shaping Australian folk-rock as one-third of The Waifs, and her solo project ThornBird confirms that her voice remains one of the most distinct in modern roots music. ThornBird will return to Victoria in February 2026 for a short run of Big Girl Pants shows.

Austin's roots-driven Americana rock outfit Uncle Lucius will release a new live album, Live In ‘25, on 21 November 2025. The project documents two sold-out performances at Texas landmark Gruene Hall, a setting that has shaped the band's evolution for close to two decades. The shows yielded a collection that spans the group's catalogue, includes four new songs, and salutes the long history of Texas songwriting.

Bluesfest Tours has expanded The Black Crowes' 2026 Australian run with a second headline show at The Forum in Melbourne on Thursday 2 April, following the immediate sell out of their Friday 3 April date. The extra performance strengthens an already packed national schedule that includes stops in Brisbane, Sydney, Newcastle, and Byron Bay, with several shows close to capacity.

ARN Media Limited shareholders have every reason to be worried after the final 2025 radio survey delivered yet another Kyle and Jackie O flop in Melbourne.

Rose Gray, the East London artist shaped by the energy of club culture, will bring her debut Australian tour to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney in February 2026. The tour extends a rapid rise that has pushed her from late night sets in London clubs to the global stages she now occupies. Her art draws from years spent in nightlife, where she worked shifts, danced through mornings and found a voice that mixes honesty, hedonism and heart.

Jimmy Cliff, born James Chambers on 30 July 1944, has died at 81. His wife confirmed that he passed away on 24 November 2025 in hospital after complications from pneumonia. His death brings to a close a career unmatched in scope and significance across Jamaican music. At the time of his passing, Cliff was the only living reggae artist to hold the Order of Merit, which remains one of the highest honours granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences.

American artist Quadeca will bring his ambitious and experimental sound to Australia in May 2026, with a three-date East Coast run presented by Frontier Touring and Penny Drop. At 25, he has built a global reputation through inventive production, genre fluidity, and a catalogue that traces a fascinating rise from internet creator to acclaimed multi-disciplinary musician. His fourth album Vanisher, Horizon Scraper has been central to that rise, showcasing a detailed narrative style and a signature self-produced approach that has brought him strong international attention.

Two pioneering forces of punk and power-pop will reconnect in 2026 when Redd Kross and The Hard-Ons, fronted by Tim Rogers, launch a coast-spanning Australian tour. The run marks the return of two acts who helped define the collision of punk grit, melodic pop and high-voltage rock through the late seventies and eighties, setting a foundation that continues to influence generations of alternative artists.

Belinda Carlisle will return to Australia in March 2027 for her final national run, the G'Day & Goodbye Tour.

Donald Glover, known globally for his work as Childish Gambino, has disclosed that he suffered a stroke in 2024, which forced the cancellation of his New World tour. The revelation came during his performance at Tyler, The Creator's Camp Flog Gnaw festival in Los Angeles, where the multi-hyphenate artist addressed the circumstances surrounding the abrupt end of his touring schedule.

Progressive rock icon Rick Wakeman has confirmed he is now recovering at home following recent brain surgery, with the Yes legend reporting strong progress and renewed confidence about his touring plans for 2026. The 75-year-old keyboardist underwent corrective shunt surgery after receiving a diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus, a neurological condition caused by fluid build-up in the skull, which forced the postponement of his planned American dates earlier this year.

Rob Zombie has launched a new chapter in his long running metal legacy with the release of his latest single, Heathen Days, a fierce preview of his forthcoming album, The Great Satan, which arrives February 27 through Nuclear Blast Records. The track, paired with a self directed video, dives deep into the hostile imagery that defined Zombie's early sonic identity, with riff heavy guitars and lyrics that summon visions of conflict and unrest.

Mariachi El Bronx and The Bronx will reunite with Australian audiences in March 2026, as Live Nation confirms the Super Show! Band On Band Action! Tour. The run marks the first local dates since the two LA outfits last toured in tandem, and arrives ahead of the first Mariachi El Bronx album in twelve years, which lands on 13 February 2026.

‘A Hundred Years Or More’, an new EP from Midnight Oil’s Rob Hirst and Jim Moginie and with drummer Hamish Stuart, has debuted at number one of the Australian Top 50 Singles Sales chart.

Taylor Acorn will return to Australia in March 2026 with her first national headline tour, announcing four shows with American alt-pop-rock band Arrows In Action as special guests. The visit follows the October release of her second full-length album Poster Child, a record that has pushed the Nashville-based artist into the global pop-punk spotlight. Acorn's new tour will commence in Melbourne on 1 March, continue to Brisbane and Adelaide, and close in Sydney on 6 March.

Rising US heavy music duo The Pretty Wild have released their debut full-length album Zero.Point.Genesis, via Sumerian Records, with the record now available across all major streaming platforms. The arrival of the album follows a rapid rise over the past two years, with the pair accumulating more than 37 million streams and establishing a reputation for emotionally charged, genre-bending metalcore.

Slim Dusty remains one of the most enduring symbols of Australian music, and his legacy continues to grow as a new remix of Duncan finds fresh life on social media. The renewed attention marks another chapter in the extraordinary story of an artist who documented Australian culture with unmatched dedication across more than seven decades.

The Beatles new Anthology 4 includes some very strange changes to the songs Real Love and Free As A Bird.

Tool's return to New Zealand has offered Australian fans a preview of what to expect when the band arrives later this month. The Los Angeles progressive metal innovators performed two consecutive nights in Auckland on 22 and 23 November, delivering setlists that diverged sharply across the two shows and included a remarkable selection of rarely played catalogue deep cuts. For a group renowned for its precision, its disciplined touring cycles, and its aversion to nostalgia, this was a significant display of musical archival excavation.

Cordrazine will close the book on their unique and often fragile history with the release of their final EP You See In Me on 5 December, with the band confirming that their EP launch at the Northcote Social Club on 12 December will double as their last ever performance. The decision brings an emotional end to one of Australia's most intriguing indie pop-rock stories, born in Melbourne in the mid-1990s and revived in sporadic but treasured bursts across the decades.

Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias, a cornerstone of American theatre since the late 1980s, will return to Australian stages in 2026 in a new national tour directed by Lee Lewis. Producers Neil Gooding and Alex Woodward will present the production with a cast of six actors, who will be revealed in the coming months. This new staging will bring Harling's tale of friendship, resilience and emotional strength to audiences in Brisbane, Sydney, Wollongong, Canberra, Perth and Melbourne.

Robert Plant stepped into the Tiny Desk space on a windy Halloween afternoon and immediately commented on the minimalist setup, telling the room that it reminded him of Live Aid, adding that he could not hear himself there either, because the format avoids amplified vocals and personal monitors. The limitation did nothing to unsettle him, because Plant has long embraced reinvention, moving from the power of Led Zeppelin to the refined folk, blues and roots recordings he has championed over recent decades.

Joe Jackson will launch a major new chapter in 2026, as he prepares to release his first rock album since 2019, Hope And Fury, and embark on an 80-show international tour. The album will arrive on 10 April 2026. The release marks a return to the sharp, melodic and uncompromising style that first defined Jackson in the late 1970s, when he emerged as one of the most distinctive voices in the new wave era.

M. Ward will return to Australia in March 2026 with his band The Undertakers, marking another chapter in a relationship with local audiences that spans more than two decades. The acclaimed American songwriter, known for his understated vocal delivery and atmospheric guitar work, will bring a full band for a run of intimate East Coast shows that will take his music from Melbourne's bars to regional New South Wales.

Jellybean Johnson, born Garry George Johnson in Chicago in 1956, has died suddenly at the age of 69. His family confirmed his passing on Friday, only days after he celebrated his birthday. No cause of death has been released. Johnson's death marks the loss of one of the most significant figures in the creation and evolution of the Minneapolis Sound, a movement that fused funk, rock and soul with a sharp rhythmic edge.

Ian Lees, the bass player for Moving Pictures, has passed away after suffering a heart attack.

Broadway favourite Waitress will make its long-awaited Melbourne debut in 2026, with the production confirmed for Her Majesty's Theatre from May. Crossroads Live producer John Frost has secured the musical for a full Australian season, followed by a Sydney run at the Sydney Lyric Theatre from August 2026. Fans can join the Melbourne waitlist now for early access to tickets.