Music fans are still catching our breath from a busy 2025 — few years are bigger than when there’s a new Taylor Swift album, after all.
But 2026 is upon us, with a rash of album releases, tours, movies, books and other events that lined up to sate fans of all tastes. Everything hasn’t been revealed yet, but we know enough to make an early pick of these 26 music moments we’re most looking forward to in ’26 …
• Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson’s unexpected return to the road to celebrate their 50th anniversary — its first tour in 10 years, and since the death of drummer Neil Peart — lands Aug. 26 and 28 at Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit. 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com. You can warm up with the Rush Tribute Project on Feb. 20 at the Fillmore Detroit (2115 Woodward Ave., 313-961-5451 or thefillmoredetroit.com), and with another reunited Canadian trio of similar vintage, Triumph, celebrating its own golden anniversary on May 30 at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre, 14900 Metro Parkway, Sterling Heights. 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.
• The Rolling Stones have confirmed the recording of a new album in 2026 to follow up 2023’s Grammy Award-winning “Hackney Diamonds,” working again with producer Andrew Watt. The group has, however, scratched plans for a European tour this year because guitarist Keith Richards, usually the most enthusiastic Stone to hit the road, is unable to commit.
• Foo Fighters is coming back in a big way; its first concert here since 2018 will be Aug. 6 at Ford Field, the second date of its summer stadium tour and its largest metro area concert yet. It follows a new single, “Asking For a Friend,” with more new material expected before the concert.
• Alt-rock heroes My Chemical Romance march The Black Parade 2026 into town on Aug. 21 at Comerica Park, with Michigan-bred roc icon Iggy Pop opening. This will be part of MCR’s 20th anniversary for its third album, “The Black Parade,” a four-time platinum smash that reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
• Madonna has confirmed she’s getting back into the groove with “Confessions On a Dance Floor 2,” a sequel to her platinum, chart-topping dance (duh!) oriented 2005 album. Stuart Price, her main collaborator on the previous set, is said to be back on board this time.
• After being part of Willie Nelson’s last couple of Outlaw Music Festivals at Pine Knob, Bob Dylan makes his first metro area theater appearance since 2017 on April 4 at the Masonic Temple Theatre, 500 Temple St., Detroit. 313-548-1320 or themasonic.com.
• Oasis may be taking a break after its triumphant 2025 reunion, but the U.K. will be delivering plenty of musical delights in the new year. Among the highlights are the Damned’s covers collection “Not Like Everybody Else” (Jan. 23), new albums from the Buzzcocks (“Attitude Adjustment, Jan. 30), Kula Shaker (“Wormslayer, Jan. 30); “Brat” hitmaker Charli XCX’s “Wuthering Heights” soundtrack (Feb. 13); Haircut One Hundred (“Boxing the Compass,” March 20) and Joe Jackson (“Hope and Fury,” April 10). Squeeze’s Glen Tilbrook and Chris Difford, meanwhile, revisit songs they wrote as teenagers in 1974 on “Trixies” (March 6). And don’t forget Echo & the Bunnymen, coming back June 16 to the Fillmore Detroit, 2115 Woodward Ave. Doors at 7 p.m. 313-961-5451 or thefillmoredetroit.com.
• It’ll be one last ride, albeit a long one, for one thrash metal’s Big Four. Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine, battling the disabling hand condition Dupuytren’s contracture, says “Megadeth,” coming out Jan. 23, will be the quartet’s final album, though the farewell tour will likely go on for two or more years before the band hits its eternal rest.
• With K-pop hotter than ever thanks to “KPop Demon Hunters,” the market is primed for the return of BTS. The South Korean septet’s member have all served their mandatory military service and, according to group leader RA, have been working on new music that “is coming out really great!!” Expect to hear some of it in the spring, with a world tour announcement expected soon. In the meantime, we get a K-pop fix when Twice plays April 10 at Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit. 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.
• The late Sylvia Moy, a Motown songwriter and producer who worked closely with Stevie Wonder, is the subject of a new biography, “It’s No Wonder,” by Margena A. Christian, publishing Feb. 10 on Da Capo Press.
• George Clinton will be in the house when “Symphonic PFunk: Celebrating the Music of Parliament Funkadelic” burns the mutha down with symphonic arrangements of the P-Funk classics, orchestrated by “Dancing With the Stars” music director Ray Chew — with guest appearances from Nona Hendryx, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid and Rashaan Patterson — on Jan. 31 at the Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway St. 313-237-7464 or detroitopera.org.
• Country troubadour Zach Bryan, who set an attendance record last September at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, has been releasing individual songs since “The Great American Bar Scene” came out in 2024. Now we’ll get to hear his sixth studio set, “With Heaven On Top,” when it drops on Jan. 9.
• Sole surviving Monkees member Micky Dolenz celebrates the group’s 60th anniversary with a performance on March 5 at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St. 248-399-2980 or royaloakmusictheatre.com.
• The Fillmore Detroit hosts a couple of country artists on the ascent when Stephen Wilson Jr. headlines on March 11, followed two days later by Ernest. 2115 Woodward Ave. Doors at 7 p.m. 313-961-5451 or thefillmoredetroit.com.
• Florence + the Machine never disappoints, and after delivering one of 2025’s best albums, “Emotional Scream,” the British troupe will make some noise on April 13 at Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit. 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.
• Swedish pop singer Zara Larsson is pretty clearly on an arena track, so catch her up close and personal while you still can on March 17 at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St. 248-399-2980 or royaloakmusictheatre.com.
• Award-winning film director Baz Luhrmann is crowning The King again. He follows up 2022’s biopic “Elvis” with “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” drawn from unseen footage he discovered while working on its predecessor. It premiered in September at the Toronto International Film Festival and is slated to hit theaters on Feb. 20.
• It’s been a dramatic eight years for New Yorker and Rihanna squeeze A$AP Rocky. Acquitted of a gun assault charge last year, he’s coming back with a new album, “Don’t Be Dumb,” on Jan. 16 and performs the following night on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”
• The metro area theater scene will get some debuts this year (including “The Outsiders,” “& Juliet” and “Suffs”), but the schedule for the first half of the year is filled with returning, proven favorites, among them: “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” Jan 27-31 at the Fisher Theatre; “The Phantom of the Opera,” Feb. 4-15, Detroit Opera House; “The Lion King,” Mach 12-April 5, Detroit Opera House;” “Mamma Mia!,” March 24-29, Fisher Theatre; and “Hamilton,” April 29-May 17, Fisher Theatre. broadwayindetroit.com for all.
• The first weekend of February will be big at Orchestra Hall, when the Detroit Symphony Orchestra world premieres “Omar” — based on Omar ibn Saidi’s 1831 memoir — by Pulitzer Prize winners Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels and then will be joined by the Paradise Theatre Big Band for Wynton Marsalis’ “Swing Symphony.” Performances take place at 8 p.m. Feb. 6-7 and 3 p.m. Feb. 8. 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit. 313-576-5111 or dso.org.
• “The Handmaid’s Tale” returns to the stage when Poul Rudgers and Paul Bentley’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel — which preceded the TV series — rolls out March 1, 5 and 7 at the Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway St. Atwood herself will appear on Jan. 26 for a conversation. 313-237-7464 or detroitopera.org.
• The award-winning stage musical adaptation of Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell,” by the late composer Jim Steinman, was canceled here in 2018, but makes its way back for one night only on April 8 at the Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit. 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.
• The Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Northern Lights Festival, featuring violinist Johan Dalene, offers three performances of Scandinavian classics April 9-11 at Orchestra Hall, 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit. 313-576-5111 or dso.org.
• British singer Yungblud had a big 2025 with his fourth album, “Idols,” his rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” for the Back to the Beginning concert last July and his “One More Time” EP with Aerosmith in November. All that will make him a hot ticket on May 1 when he returns to the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre, 14900 Metro Parkway, Sterling Heights. 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.
• Four Non Blondes has been dormant since 1992, but we still hear “What’s Up?” with great regularity. The group has a new album slated for 2026, while Linda Perry, who’s written and produced hits for scores of other artists, has her own solo album, “It Dies Here,” also on the docket.
• Rock en Español supergroup Mana, which received its first Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination last year, makes its second-ever metro area appearance on Nov. 1 at Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit. 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.
