Rock
Page: 5
Before this month, no hard rock act had topped the Billboard 200 albums chart in nearly a half-decade. Now, two have done it in three weeks.
Two weeks ago, Ghost nabbed the chart’s top spot with its Skeletá set, and this week (on the chart dated May 25), Sleep Token claims pole position for the first time with its new album Even in Arcadia. The album bows with 127,000 units, according to Luminate — with over 50,000 each in sales and streaming equivalent albums — while all 10 of its tracks appear on this week’s Billboard Hot 100, albeit in the chart’s lower half.
How did Sleep Token end up netting such explosive first-week numbers? And what does it mean for the mainstream embrace of hard rock in general? Billboard staffers answer these questions and more below.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
1. Sleep Token’s Even in Arcadia debuts atop the Billboard 200 this week with 127,000 units – its first No. 1 on the chart. Is that performance better, worse or about what you would’ve expected from it?
Trending on Billboard
Eric Renner Brown: Frankly, any rock album – broadly defined – topping the Billboard 200 in 2025 surprises me; that Sleep Token managed to do 62% and 72% of Bad Bunny and Tate McRae’s respective first-week units from earlier this year is something the anonymous band should be proud of. But the fact that it was Sleep Token that slipped through in a somewhat quiet week on the chart tracks: This type of loud, rap-inflected rock music is what’s broken through to the mainstream most effectively in recent years.
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady: This is about what I would have expected from them. Their buzz was incredibly strong before they even began to roll out Arcadia. Their last album Take Me Back to Eden hit No. 16 on the Billboard 200 back in 2023, which was very surprising considering all eyes were on Hip-Hop for its 50th birthday. Not to mention, all three of Arcadia’s advance tracks hit the Hot 100 heading into its release. You throw in dozens TikTok conspiracy theories surrounding the band’s lore, and yep, I think fans were really eager to dive into this album.
Kyle Denis: Definitely better. My Billboard 200 expectations for non-legacy hard rock bands in the 2020s are basically in the basement.
Jason Lipshutz: Better. The performance of the singles leading up to Even in Arcadia, combined with upcoming sold-out arena dates and the band’s new partnership with RCA Records, suggested a career-best bow for Sleep Token — but a six-figure, No. 1 bow for a hard rock act is increasingly rare, especially for a band that’s not a decades-running brand name like Metallica or Tool. Even the most bullish Sleep Token fans couldn’t have foreseen a debut with 127,000 equivalent album units, considering that it’s a number without much recent precedent.
Andrew Unterberger: I’m surprised by how not surprised I am. Sleep Token is exactly the sort of cult rock act who sells well with its devoted fanbase, and now that it’s also become the sort of act who debuts on the Hot 100 with all three of your album’s advance tracks — and not just in the 80s or 90s, but as high as No. 34 (with “Caramel”) — clearly its streaming prowess is quite considerable as well. I might’ve guessed a little lower for its final first-week tally, but I would have guessed six digits. And that’s pretty wild for a rock band in 2025.
2. One of the more notable things about Arcadia’s first-week performance – particularly as far as rock albums go — is its relatively even split in terms of sales and streams: 73,500 in sales and 53,000 streaming equivalent album units. Which of those two numbers is more significant, do you think?
Eric Renner Brown: The streaming figure is more significant to me, because it demonstrates that the album’s popularity extends beyond diehards who might have already been committed to buying it. With such a high streaming number, Even In Arcadia was likely making its way to plenty of new Sleep Token listeners – and resonating enough with existing ones that they were returning to it after release.
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady: The sales number is definitely telling in regards to the chokehold Sleep Token lore has on the group’s supporters. Fans have been dissecting their lyrics and digging for easter eggs for months now, and it’s become less about trying to learn the band’s identity and more about engaging in the world Sleep Token is building. I think fans thought they’d learn more info if they bought physical copies of the record, which may or may not be true! Either way, it translates to a great sales week for them.
Kyle Denis: Arcadia pulling in 53,000 streaming equivalent album units during its first week is very impressive. Rock has had some difficulty finding its footing as the industry transitioned into the streaming era, and you really wouldn’t need more than two hands to count the amount of new rock bands that have broken through on a mainstream, Billboard chart-topping level in recent years. I think a hard rock band pulling these streaming figures – with just one career top 40 hit! — bodes well for not only their longevity, but also the general health of the genre in the streaming era.
Jason Lipshutz: The sales figure. Seeing multiple Arcadia tracks on daily streaming charts during the week following the album release was impressive, but the fact that the album moved that many copies right off the bat illustrates just how huge of a fan base Sleep Token has developed, and how hungry they were for another chapter in their story. Plenty of arena-level acts have struggled to get their fans invested in new material, but the Arcadia sales figure suggests that Sleep Token’s devoted listenership has not plateaued whatsoever.
Andrew Unterberger: The streams are certainly more newsworthy, but the sales are arguably more significant for the band itself. Once you become a band that can move physical units like that — and even without a single stream, Arcadia still would’ve sold enough for it to top the Billboard 200 this week — you’re basically golden; that fanbase investment is rock-solid enough that you’ll probably never be depending on living hit-to-hit again.
3. Also unusual for an album by a rock band: Arcadia notches all 10 of its tracks on the Hot 100 (though all in the chart’s bottom half). Do you think there’s a song that could endure as a lasting breakout hit, or is it mostly about the full album with Sleep Token?
Eric Renner Brown: Songs like “Look To Windward” and “Infinite Baths” are simply too long to have much crossover appeal on their own, outside of the album. But shorter tracks like “Past Self” are rhythmic earworms that call to mind Twenty One Pilots’ biggest hits – and could have similar breakout potential.
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady: A Sleep Token record as a whole is definitely more appealing to its core fans, but it’s clear this time around there are certain songs geared more heavily for general consumption. “Caramel,” “Past Self,” “Provider,” are all ready to conquer the algorithms, which is just what happens when you have a machine like RCA pushing your album. We’ll likely start to hear these songs outside more and more, but only time will tell if the general public goes for it.
Kyle Denis: I think it’s probably mostly about the full album, but I think both “Caramel” and “Damocles” could stick around longer than most expect. Both tracks offer fans who may traditionally fall outside of hard rock circles and easy entry point into Sleep Token’s genre-fusing world.
Jason Lipshutz: I loved how “Emergence” set the table for the rest of the album campaign as the first song released from Arcadia, but its follow-up, “Caramel,” is the single that has the best shot at enduring. Its summery beat and pop hooks are primed to reach a mainstream audience, and its twisting structure and intense second half make sure that the song doesn’t betray the band’s core appeal. Is a Sleep Token track really in the song of the summer race? You better believe it.
Andrew Unterberger: “Caramel” feels like the band’s greatest proof-of-concept single on the set, though it is interesting to me to see “Emergence” crack the top five on Rock & Alternative Airplay — it doesn’t strike me as a radio song, but neither does anything on this set, really. Still, that may say more about the popularity of the band overall rather than of the song itself.
4. A lot of people are probably hearing Sleep Token’s name for the first time and fumbling over the band’s now-undeniable popularity – in one sentence, how would you describe the root of its appeal/success to the uninitiated?
Eric Renner Brown: Rock might not be the mainstream cultural driver it once was, but there’s still a certain romance to heavy, high-concept rock music – and new generations want to find their own purveyors of that, rather than settling for the big arena-rock acts of yesteryear.
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady: They don’t have restrictions on what can and can’t be in metal, and that’s ultimately cool even if it doesn’t always work.
Kyle Denis: An English hard rock band that incorporates genres like reggaetón and pop and anonymizes themselves with different masks for each album rode a combination of natural momentum and social media virality to international stardom.
Jason Lipshutz: Sleep Token combines old-school metalcore theatrics, modern fantasy-world mythmaking and forward-thinking breakdowns that can be turned up in a car stereos or chopped up into TikTok clips.
Andrew Unterberger: As with the steadily growing popularity of Ghost, modern audiences love a metal band that can generate a little mystery and drama to its world-building — and as with the recent resurgence for the Deftones, those same audiences also love a metal band who seems tuned into the existence of other musical genres (and of sex).
5. Between Ghost and Sleep Token, hard rock albums have now claimed the No. 1 spot in two of the last three weeks – and neither from legacy acts, but rather from bands who are still ascending. Does this feel like a particularly important and significant moment for rock music on the Billboard charts, or is it more just a coincidence of timing?
Eric Renner Brown: Ghost and Sleep Token’s success on the chart ultimately feels like a coincidence, given the relative lull in major new releases – after all, since April, two Billboard 200 toppers have been deluxe reissues of previously released albums, and one (Bad Bunny) was a re-entry of an album that last topped the chart in early February. But at the same time, these albums indicate that hard rock is doing much better commercially than many give it credit for. Both bands are headed out on high-selling arena tours in the coming months, and hard-rock festivals like Ohio’s Sonic Temple and Florida’s Welcome To Rockville, which this year were headlined by the likes of Disturbed, Slipknot, Shinedown and Korn, are reliably huge affairs.
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady: A little of both. Both Ghost and Sleep Token emerged as No. 1’s on relatively slow weeks, and there’s no denying that the latter will be washed away from the charts next week now that Morgan Wallen’s back outside. Still, I think it shows overall a renewed appetite for theatrical rock music, especially among younger listeners. To call it a full blown “resurgence” I think is a stretch, but it is nice to see there remains an appetite for a genre that the mainstream public deemed to be “dead” years ago.
Kyle Denis: I think the release dates are probably a coincidence of timing, but the fact that 2025 has had two Billboard 200-topping hard rock albums before the year’s midpoint is definitely significant. Especially since these aren’t legacy acts and – at least in Sleep Token’s case – they’re also landing several songs on the Hot 100 pre- and post-album release. Maybe the success of these albums indicates a forthcoming reversal of the current trend of groups and bands disappearing from the Hot 100. Even if Arcadia doesn’t spin out a massive crossover hit, its streaming success is already indicative of a new era for hard rock on that consumption format – and that’s certainly a win.
Jason Lipshutz: The timing is coincidental, but the hard rock world has been starving for new superstars for years, and bands like Sleep Token and Ghost are filling the void. Both bands abide by long-held rules of the metal scene while also gesturing toward pop fans with their melodies; the mystique surrounding both groups has also gradually built, and invited new fans year after year. The respective performances of their new albums on the Billboard 200 showcases how these bands have real selling power, and should be taken more seriously as commercial entities moving forward.
Andrew Unterberger: Coincidental, but still meaningful. These two bands who happened to be releasing albums weeks apart might have been the only two bands who you’d expect to combine for such a moment in 2025 — but that’s still two more than you would’ve expected to be capable of it five years ago.
Ahead of their reunion tour slated for this fall, Minus The Bear will reissue their sophomore album, 2005’s Menos el Oso, to commemorate the album’s 20th anniversary. The beloved Seattle indie band unveiled the deluxe vinyl release, as well as the demo version of the track “Hooray,” on Tuesday (May 20), with the reissue scheduled […]
Guns N’ Roses are having a laugh at their own expense. On Monday (May 19), the band shared a tongue-in-cheek video compilation on Instagram titled “Guns N’ Roses Greatest Hits!”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Instead of featuring career-spanning songs, the clip highlights 14 onstage wipeouts from frontman Axl Rose. Set to their 1987 classic “Welcome to the Jungle,” the video includes archival footage of Rose slipping, tripping and toppling over onstage across the decades, concluding with a clip from Saturday’s (May 17) show in Mumbai, India, where the rocker stumbled on the stairs while performing “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
The post arrives as Guns N’ Roses hit the road on their Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things world tour, which kicked off May 1 in Incheon, South Korea. The stadium run will continue across Asia, the Middle East and Europe through the end of July, with support from Public Enemy, Rival Sons and Sex Pistols members on select dates.
Trending on Billboard
The band’s current lineup includes Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus and Melissa Reese. This marks the first tour since longtime drummer Frank Ferrer announced his departure from the group in March. His final show was Nov. 5, 2023, in Mexico.
The group has since welcomed Isaac Carpenter as their new drummer for the 2025 tour.
Guns N’ Roses continue to be one of the most enduring acts in rock. Their 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction, remains one of the best-selling rock albums of all time. The band’s iconic single “Sweet Child O’ Mine” became their first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 when it topped the chart dated Sept. 10, 1988.
Their Not in This Lifetime… reunion tour in 2019 grossed over $584 million, making it the third-highest-grossing tour of all time. The shows reunited Guns N’ Roses members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan, who, before reconvening in 2016, hadn’t played a show together since 1993.
Eddie Vedder paid tribute to Bruce Springsteen during Pearl Jam’s concert in Pittsburgh on Friday night (May 17), performing a solo acoustic rendition of “My City of Ruins” in what appeared to be a quiet but powerful response to Donald Trump’s recent public criticism of Springsteen.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Vedder did not reference Trump directly and did not mention Springsteen by name before performing the song. But the choice was likely intentional, as Springsteen has been performing the 2002 track during his tour alongside fiery speeches condemning what he describes as attacks on civil liberties by Trump and his allies.
Trending on Billboard
During the kickoff of his European tour on May 14, Springsteen told the audience, “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.”
Trump responded on Truth Social on May 16, calling Springsteen “highly overrated,” “dumb as a rock,” and “a dried out prune of a rocker.” He also threatened to bar the musician from returning to the U.S. after his tour, writing, “Springsteen ought to keep his mouth shut until he gets back into the country. Then we’ll all see how it goes for him.”
Springsteen did not back down. “Things are happening right now that are altering the very nature of our country’s democracy, and they’re too important to ignore,” the rocker said to the crowd in a three-minute speech on Manchester’s Co-op Live stage on Saturday, as heard in a video posted by the L.A. Times.
“In my home, they’re persecuting people for their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. That’s happening now,” Springsteen said, echoing what he’d spoken about at his May 14 show. “In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. That’s happening now. In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.”
Springsteen continued, “They are removing residents off American streets without due process of law and deploying them to foreign detention centers as prisoners. That’s happening now…They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American.”
Josh Freese announced on social media Friday (May 16) that he’s been abruptly removed from the Foo Fighters‘ lineup after two years drumming for the band.
“The Foo Fighters called me Monday night to let me know they’ve decided ‘to go in a different direction with their drummer.’ No reason was given,” he wrote, punctuating the news with an old-fashioned sad-faced emoticon. “Regardless, I enjoyed the past two years with them, both on and off stage, and I support whatever they feel is best for the band.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“In my 40 years of drummer of drumming professionally, I’ve never been let go from a band,” Freese continued, adding that he’s “not angry—just a bit shocked and disappointed” by the decision.
Trending on Billboard
Still, his message ended on a cheerful note that showed the musician seems to be taking the cryptic dismissal in stride. “I’ve always worked freelance and bounced between bands so, I’m fine,” he concluded before promising, “Stay tuned for my ‘Top 10 possible reasons Josh got booted from the Foo Fighters’ list.”
Before taking up the mantle left by Taylor Hawkins’ tragic and sudden passing in 2022, Freese spent his decades-long career drumming with everyone from The Zappas, The Vandals and Devo to Guns N’ Roses, Sting, Nine Inch Nails and Weezer.
He’s also worked extensively as a studio musician for the likes of The Offspring, Lostprophets and the Replacements, and contributed drums to hit albums like Avril Lavigne’s Let Go, Kelly Clarkson’s Thankful, Good Charlotte’s The Young and The Hopeless, Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream and Lana Del Rey’s Norman F–king Rockwell.
Meanwhile, the Foo Fighters booked their very first show of 2025 earlier this week by announcing they’ll be performing at the Singapore F1 Grand Prix in October — just months after frontman Dave Grohl hit the stage at Coachella with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Representatives for the Foo Fighters declined Billboard’s request for comment. Read Freese’s full statement about his firing here.
Forever yours, faithfully. Steve Perry and Willie Nelson unveiled their new duet version of Journey‘s “Faithfully” for charity on Wednesday (May 14). The former Journey frontman and the country icon turn the band’s classic 1983 single into a wistful, meditative ballad as Nelson warbles, “Highway run in the midnight sun/ Wheels go round and round/ […]
Amyl and The Sniffers delivered a characteristically unhinged performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week, taking the late-night stage for a rowdy rendition of their latest single, “Tiny Bikini.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Frontwoman Amy Taylor brought her statement punk flair to the late-night stage, pairing her explosive vocals and fearless energy with a cheeky fashion statement – thong sandals repurposed as a top. Styled in leather lace-up shorts, knee-high boots, bold blue eyeshadow and her unmistakable mullet, Taylor delivered the kind of explosive presence that’s become a hallmark of the band’s live performances.
“Tiny Bikini” features on the band’s third studio album Cartoon Darkness, released in March via Rough Trade. The album marks a new high point in their trajectory, blending their snarling pub-rock energy with a sharper sense of songwriting and production. It follows 2021’s Comfort to Me, which landed in the top 10 of the ARIA Albums Chart and earned international acclaim.
Trending on Billboard
Their Fallon appearance comes at a peak moment for the Melbourne punk outfit. Earlier this week, Amyl and The Sniffers scored three nominations at the 2024 AIR Awards, including Independent Album of the Year and Best Independent Rock Album or EP for Cartoon Darkness, as well as Independent Song of the Year for “U Should Not Be Doing That.” The latter already took out Song of the Year at the recent APRA Music Awards, and have won three ARIA Awards, including Best Group in 2022.
The band also performed at Coachella last month, earned a Brit Award nomination for Best International Group, and graced the cover of Rolling Stone AUNZ in March after picking up two trophies at the 2024 RSA Awards.
Known for pushing the envelope, Amyl and The Sniffers previously made headlines with the uncensored version of their music video for “Jerkin’,” which featured full-frontal nudity and a disclaimer emphasizing body positivity over titillation.
From raucous club gigs to mainstream U.S. television, the Aussie band continues to prove that they’re not here to tone things down. In fact, they’re just getting started.
The Doors’ story, strange days and otherwise, has been told many times to date — by writers, by filmmakers, by the band members themselves in their respective memoirs. But the new Night Divides The Day: The Doors Anthology book puts all of their accounts (and more) alongside each other for the first time ever.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The opulent, coffee-table sized 344-page book was created by England’s Genesis Publications, in partnership with the Doors camp, as part of the group’s 60th anniversary celebration. Featuring about 800 photos and other illustrations (many never before seen), the tome includes new interviews with surviving members Robby Krieger and John Densmore, along with material from the autobiographies and archival comments from Krieger, Densmore and late members Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek. Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic wrote the foreword, while Van Morrison, Alice Cooper, Patti Smith and others join members of the Doors’ camp in offering commentary throughout the book.
Key events in the band’s history are recounted in depth — including the making of each album, the legendary Hollywood Bowl concert in July 1968 and the March 1, 1969, Dinner Key Auditorium show in Miami, after which Morrison was arrested for profanity and indecent exposure. And for gear aficionados, Night Divides The Day is awash in images of guitars, keyboards, drums and even Morrison’s microphones and harmonicas.
Trending on Billboard
“It really shows you a lot of the hidden Doors stuff that a lot of people don’t know about,” Krieger, who published Set the Night on Fire: Living, Dying, and Playing Guitar With the Doors in 2021, tells Billboard. “Just seeing the old pictures — a lot of pictures I’ve never seen, which is pretty cool. And reading a lot of interviews, stuff that I’ve forgotten all about…To go back in time and read the original stuff that you might have forgotten about or had the wrong idea of, it is nice to have everything in one (book) like this. I think it’s really done well.”
Krieger is also happy that in addition to the limited edition — 2,000 copies signed by the guitarist and Densmore, with a 7-inch vinyl single featuring rare demo versions of “Hello, I Love You” and “Moonlight Drive” and other memorabilia for $495 — there’s also a standard book store edition, which weighs in at $75.
“I think over the past sort of 10 years Genesis has been doing this more and more with selected titles,” the company’s Nick Roylance explains. “With the amount of work that goes into a book like this it’s nice to share it with a broader audience and…share their story more widely. It’s really lovely to do the limited edition that’s so special for those fans that can afford it; it’s a different experience of the book. But it’s genuinely meaningful to make it more widely available.”
The Doors
Genesis was introduced to the Doors’ world via A Guide to the Labyrinth: The Collected Works of Jim Morrison, featuring poetry, lyrics, essays and unpublished notes that the company published in May 2022. “We started there and got to know the archives and what we were working with photo-wise,” recalls Night Divides The Day editor Megan Lily Large. “So we had an idea of what we wanted with the design, and then it was just what (the Doors) wanted to tell with the text…We wanted to present their stories as authentically as we could, through their own words, through their own archives and give readers an insight they might not have been afforded until now.”
Lily Large considers the gear photos to be among the book’s holy grail content; some of the instruments had to be tracked down in private collections. And getting Van Morrison’s fresh remembrance of Jim Morrison joining him and his band Them during the last night of a 1966 stand at the Whisky A Go Go for “Gloria” and “The Midnight Hour,” filled with praise for Morrison’s performing chops, was a particularly rare get.
“I think he was quite excited to see the photos” from the performance by Whisky photographer George Rodriguez, Roylance says. Lily Large adds that, “We had these great photos of both of them, so we reached out to Van — ‘Have you seen these? We would love to get a couple of words from you, if we can, even a quote.’ And he came back with a full piece. My favorite part is when he describes Jim as ‘a brother from another mother.’ Which is quite a shock.”
Night Divides The Day is one of a number of projects for the Doors’ 60th celebration, which began last November with Rhino’s High Fidelity audiophile vinyl The Doors 1967-1971 and a Record Store Black Friday vinyl edition of The Doors — Live in Detroit. That show is also part of a series of concert releases from the Doors’ own Bright Midnight label from 1967-1970 streaming for the first time. The group acquired a recently discovered two-channel stereo recording of the final show with Jim Morrison — albeit a disappointing night on Dec. 12, 1970, at the Warehouse in New Orleans — that it’s working to turn into an official release.
“That’s gonna be coming out one of these days,” says Krieger, who was joined by Densmore on stage May 3 at during his monthly Doors album show at the Whisky. “We’re trying to get that together. We know there’s a tape that exists; that’s half the battle right there. I haven’t actually heard it, but I heard it’s pretty damn good, quality-wise.”
Krieger is staying busy with his own work as well these days. He’s planning a second album by the Soul Savages to follow up its 2024 debut, and he’s already recorded a rock-reggae album, featuring the late Phil Chen on bass, that he hopes to release this year. Krieger also guests on “Black Mamba,” the first single from The Revenge of Alice Cooper — a reunion of original band members who became tight with Krieger and the Doors during the late ‘60s in Los Angeles. “That was fun,” he says. “We would hang out together quite a bit back in the day. That (song) was right up my alley.”
Meanwhile, Krieger says he plans to keep enjoying the Doors anniversary celebration – and see what may transpire in the future.
“It’s amazing,” he says. “Even 20 years ago, the 40th anniversary, I was telling people I couldn’t imagine this happening. The only ones that have beaten us are the Stones and the Beatles, pretty much. There’s plenty of groups out there who were formed around the same time as we did, and they don’t have the (continuing) interest that we do. It’s definitely (because of) the songs, the words and the music. It was just an amazing combination of people, the four of us, who came together, and it probably happens once every 60 years. We don’t take it for granted.”
The Foo Fighters have booked their first gig of 2025. The veteran rockers announced on Tuesday night (May 13) that they will headline day two (October 4) of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix concerts as part of a three-day roster of all-star shows supporting the race. “Singapore. See you soon!!!” the band wrote in the […]
While rumors about the upcoming Oasis reunion tour continue to swirl, one of the band’s co-managers has put one to bed: There will be no new music from the Gallagher brothers.
Speaking to Music Week, Alec McKinlay, who heads the band’s Ignition Management and Big Brother Recordings, Oasis’ U.K. label, revealed that there were no plans for Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher to get back in the studio together for a new record. The band released their most recent album, Dig Out Your Soul, in 2008.
“This is very much the last time around, as Noel’s made clear in the press,” McKinlay said in the interview published Tuesday (May 13). “It’s a chance for fans who haven’t seen the band to see them, or at least for some of them to. But no, there’s no plan for any new music.”
Trending on Billboard
The confirmation arrives after months of rumors, including some teasing by frontman Liam on his social platforms. In September, Liam responded to a fan to say that a new record was “already finished,” and in November he said he was “blown away” by the songs Noel had allegedly written for a new album.
The band’s reunion tour kicks off in the U.K. at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, on July 4. The run of dates will continue through Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin before hitting North America, Latin America, Asia and Australia across the 41 planned shows.
Elsewhere in the interview, McKinsley discussed the response to the shows globally. “We’d obviously been planning it for a while and the moment when it went live was a little bit of a step into the unknown in terms of how big the reaction would be,” McKinlay said. “When it all hit home, it was just phenomenal. The reaction was very much one of, ‘Finally, some good news after all the nonsense that’s been going on in the world.’
“Probably the biggest and most pleasing surprise of the reunion announcement is how huge it was internationally,” he added. “Honestly, we knew it would be big here, and that doesn’t take much intuition. But looking outside the U.K., we knew they had a strong fanbase, we did all the stats. We were quite cautious about what that would mean when it came to people actually buying tickets, but we were just bowled over by how huge it was.
“We could have sold out half-a-dozen Rose Bowls in Pasadena and probably eight MetLife Stadiums in New York in a day,” McKinsley shared. “We saw the ticket stats, we were watching what was happening and the demand was way beyond our expectations.”
The clamor for Oasis tickets in the U.K. sparked a debate about on-sale practices. In March, the Competition and Markets Authority said that Ticketmaster may have “misled” fans about ticket prices for the events.
The band has yet to officially confirm who will be performing in the live group alongside Noel and Liam, but the latter has denied reports that “Hello” will be dropped from the setlist due to its connection to convicted pedophile Gary Glitter.