Newton Faulkner will return to Australia in April 2026 for a national headline tour aligned with the release of his new album Octopus, set for 6 March 2026 via Cooking Vinyl Records. Faulkner unveils the new single Gravitational as the latest preview of the album, which continues the experimental production approach that has shaped his current creative period.

For the first time since 2013, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra will revive its long-loved tradition of free outdoor concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, with four major events planned for 10 to 14 February 2026. The series, presented by the MSO with ABC Classic, The University of Melbourne and Arts Centre Melbourne, promises a week of symphonic music supported by Australian composers, celebrated soloists and rising talent.

WOMADelaide has expanded its 2026 program with the addition of 20 new artists, reinforcing its long reputation as one of Australia's most adventurous global music gatherings. The festival returns to Botanic Park, Tainmuntilla across the March long weekend, 6 to 9 March 2026, with a lineup that blends iconic names with vital new voices.

A mass of John Farnham fans will unite at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on 13 March 2026 for We Are The Voice, a one night only celebration aiming to set a new world record for the largest crowd singing Farnham songs. Led by long-time Farnham music director Chong Lim and the classic Farnham Band, the event invites thousands of voices to form a single colossal choir, raising funds for Head And Neck Cancer Australia.

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.

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.

Gary “Mani” Mounfield, the influential bassist of The Stone Roses and long-time Primal Scream member, has died at the age of 63. His brother Greg confirmed the news with a public message stating that it was shared with “the heaviest of hearts”. The announcement has shaken Manchester, a city where Mani's sound shaped generations of musicians. Family members, colleagues, and the wider music community have been expressing their grief since the news broke.

Nashville delivered another milestone in Country Music history as The 59th Annual CMA Awards took over the Bridgestone Arena with a night built on legacy, drive and standout achievement. Country star Lainey Wilson guided the broadcast with a confident presence shaped by years of hard touring and a growing catalogue of acclaimed work. The broadcast reflected a genre still expanding its reach while honouring the players who shaped its past.

Blues On Broadbeach will mark its 25th anniversary in 2026 with four days of live music on the Gold Coast from 14 May to 17 May, as the festival celebrates a quarter of a century of rhythm, soul, community spirit and international recognition. The event's landmark year follows its recent Gold win in the Major Festivals and Events category at the Queensland Tourism Awards, a result that highlights the importance of the festival in the cultural life of the state.

Grammy winner Judith Hill will tour Australia in May 2026 as she brings her latest album, Letters From A Black Widow, to life for local audiences. The shows will showcase her signature mix of soul, funk and gospel, delivered with the emotional depth that has defined her career. Hill released the album in 2024 and marked a new chapter for the Los Angeles artist, who continues to build on a remarkable legacy shaped by collaboration, resilience and reinvention.

James Blundell has entered a new era of his four decade career with Patience Wins, his thirteenth studio album and one of his most significant releases to date. The project arrives with a powerful reception from fans, debuting at #1 on the Australian Country Album Chart, #2 on the Country Album Chart, #4 on the Australian Album Chart, and #25 on the overall ARIA Album Chart. The result highlights Blundell's enduring place in the Australian music story, a journey that began when he first broke through in 1989 with 'James Blundell'.

Deftones will end a near decade long absence from headline arenas in Australia and New Zealand, with a run of shows in May 2026. The Sacramento band bring their immersive, genre-defying live show, with special guests Interpol and Ecca Vandal.

A free all-ages show for Amyl And The Sniffers at Melbourne's Federation Square came to a sudden halt after large sections of the crowd pushed through perimeter fencing, creating an immediate safety risk. The event, announced as a surprise hometown performance during the band's break from supporting AC/DC on the current world tour, drew thousands into the CBD with expectations of a rare cost-free appearance.

Sydney's iconic New Year's Day festival Field Day will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2026 with one of its biggest line-ups yet. Returning to The Domain on Gadigal Country on Monday 1 January 2026, Field Day will once again kick off the year with a world-class roster of international and Australian artists, dance floor anthems, and a brand-new stage dedicated to Sydney's vibrant LGBTQIA+ community.

AC/DC's Power Up tour isn't only a celebration of Australia's greatest rock export, it is a masterclass in world-class touring logistics. In this backstage Noise11 interview, Paul Cashmere speaks with AC/DC Production Director Dale Skjerseth, Production Manager Will Keating, and Australian promoter Christo Van Egmond to reveal how a tour of this scale actually happens.

Melbourne will be hit with a blast of homegrown rock fury this Friday 14 November when Amyl And The Sniffers return to the city for a surprise free concert at Fed Square.

Brisbane's riverfront is set to become Australia's newest major live music destination when On The Banks, a fresh outdoor concert series, launches in March 2026. The Cultural Forecourt at South Bank will transform into a riverside music hub for three weeks from 1 March to 22 March, presenting a lineup of international heavyweights and Australian icons across hip-hop, alternative, pop, garage, folk, R&B and more.

Sugar Mountain will return to the centre of Naarm in 2026, reclaiming its roots as an independent festival and bringing its celebrated 360-degree stage back to Melbourne's CBD on Saturday, 21 February 2026. The festival will take over The Paddock, an urban oasis tucked between Federation Square's car park, Birrarung Marr and the city's train line, marking a homecoming for one of Melbourne's most forward-thinking music events.

Australia has farewelled one of its most influential and distinctive voices with the passing of John Laws, who died peacefully at home in Sydney's Woolloomooloo at age 90. Known nationally as the “Golden Tonsils”, Laws transformed Australian talkback radio across a career that spanned 71 years, shaping political debate, public conversation and broadcasting standards for generations.

Fifty years after it first washed up from the surf at Point Dume, Neil Young's Zuma remains one of his most quietly volatile records, a bruised and beautiful return to Crazy Horse that mixed pastoral reflection with jagged electric bursts, and gave the world the towering epic Cortez The Killer.

When Patti Smith walked into Electric Lady Studios in New York in September 1975, she was not trying to chase radio hits or craft a commercial product. She was trying to breathe life back into rock, fuse it with poetry and performance art, and speak directly to outsiders who felt like music had stopped speaking to them. On 10 November 2025, her debut album Horses reaches its 50th anniversary, standing tall as one of the most influential recordings in modern music.

Australia will be well represented at the 2026 Grammy Awards, with Perth's Tame Impala, Sydney's RÜFÜS DU SOL and Melbourne's Amyl & The Sniffers earning nominations across major contemporary categories. The awards will be announced on 1 February 2026.

The SoundMerch Australian Music Prize has named Ninajirachi the winner of its 21st annual award, recognising the most creative and artistically significant Australian album of the year. Ninajirachi takes home the coveted title for her album I Love My Computer, along with the $50,000 cash prize.

Spotify has been pushed into the spotlight again, facing multiple legal challenges that question how music is recommended, promoted, and paid for on streaming platforms.

The Northern Territory's flagship music festival BASSINTHEGRASS has locked in a massive 2026 bill, bringing a powerful mix of homegrown talent and international names to Darwin's Mindil Beach on Saturday 16 May 2026. The NT's biggest day in live music will once again transform one of Australia's most recognisable coastal backdrops into a celebration of contemporary music, tropical lifestyle, and Territory spirit.

Bondi Beach will reclaim its place as one of Australia's great outdoor music locations in February 2026 when Crowded House headline the inaugural Golden Hour series, the first major concert staged on the sands of Bondi in more than ten years. On Friday 20 February 2026, Sydney's most recognisable shoreline will transform into a twilight stage for thousands of music fans, celebrating summer's close with one of the region's most storied bands.

Sixty years ago this week, Motown released a landmark that would define the sound of soul for generations. Smokey Robinson And The Miracles' ‘Going To A Go Go', issued on 1 November 1965, stands as one of the signature albums of the golden Motown era, and six decades on its legacy still rings loud.

Sydney Festival will hit a milestone in January 2026, marking 50 years as one of Australia's most culturally defining events. From 8 January to 25 January, Sydney will once again become a living stage for theatre, dance, visual art, literature, cabaret and music, with this year's program celebrating five decades of artistic change while imagining the city's creative future.

Alan Niven, the former manager who guided Guns N' Roses through the most explosive years of their career, has filed a lawsuit in the United States seeking to unblock the release of his memoir Sound N' Fury: Rock N' Roll Stories. The action was filed on 3 November 2025 in the District Court of Arizona, with Niven requesting a jury trial and a declaration that a 1991 confidentiality agreement cannot be used to stop his book.

Leslie Kong's name rarely appears on the marquee, but his fingerprints are all over the songs that made Jamaica's music a global language. A Chinese-Jamaican businessman who began life running an ice-cream parlour, a restaurant and a record shop on Orange Street in Kingston, Kong turned a chance audition outside his shop into Beverley's Records and effectively launched modern reggae. His label and production work took ska and rocksteady, polished them, and helped shape early reggae into an exportable sound that found listeners from London to New York.