2026 in rock music

This article summarizes the events related to rock music for the year of 2026.

Notable events

January

• Alter Bridge releases their eighth studio album, Alter Bridge. It debuts in the top 4 of 4 separate national album charts.
• German thrash metal band Kreator releases their 16th studio album, Krushers of the World. It debuts in the top 8 of 4 separate national album charts, including at number 2 in the German album charts.
• Megadeth releases their self-titled 17th and final studio album. It concludes with a newly recorded version of the song "Ride the Lightning", as song Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine had originally co-written and released as a Metallica song back when he was a member of the band. The gesture was mean to represent how his career had come full circle. It debuts in the top 5 of 15 separate national album charts and becomes their first album to reach number one on the US Billboard 200, moving 73,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.

February

• The 68th Annual Grammy Awards were held on 1 February 2026. Turnstile wins the Best Rock Album award with Never Enough, and the Best Metal Performance award for their song "Birds". English rock band The Cure wins the Best Alternative Music Album award with Songs of a Lost World, and the Best Alternative Music Performance award with "Alone". Nine Inch Nails wins the Best Rock Song award with "As Alive as You Need Me to Be" and English musician Yungblud wins the Best Rock Performance award with his cover of "Changes" by Black Sabbath.
• Australian progressive rock band Karnivool releases their fourth studio album, In Verses. It is their first studio album in almost 13 years. Work on material began as early as 2016, but had progressed slowly due to all band members growing older, starting families, and physically moving away from one another. The album tops the Australian all-format ARIA chart upon its release. It is their second album in a row to top the chart, after Asymmetry (2013).

Albums released

January

February

March

Future releases

• April 3 – Canadian indie rock band Good Kid is set to release their debut studio album, Can We Hang Out Sometime?.
• April 10 – Metal Church is scheduled to release their fourteenth studio album, Dead to Rights. It is their first album with a new lineup, with founding member and rhythm guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof and longtime lead guitarist Rick Van Zandt joined by vocalist Brian Allen, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, and Flotsam and Jetsam, Fifth Angel and former Alice Cooper drummer Ken Mary.
• April 18 – Slipknot band members are scheduled to release an album. The album, Look Outside Your Window, was recorded by four of the band's members in 2008 during the band's lengthy All Hope Is Gone sessions. The album will have a more experimental and melodic rock sound as opposed to their traditional metal sound. The band once aimed to release it in 2023, once band members were scheduled from their record label contract. It was delayed to 2024, due to Corey Taylor's commitment to his second solo album CMF2 in the second half of 2023, and then again to 2025 and then 2026.
• April 24
• Foo Fighters are set to release their twelfth studio album, Your Favorite Toy. It will be their first studio album with new drummer Ilan Rubin, who replaced the band's previous drummer Josh Freese in 2025.
• Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura is set to release their four-song EP, The Cloud of Unknowing. Its release will coincide with the band's final world tour, while it will also be their only release with new drummer Greyson Nekrutman, who replaced the band's previous drummer Eloy Casagrande in 2024.
• May 1
• The Black Keys are set to release their fourteenth studio album, Peaches!.
• Toadies are set to release their eighth studio album, The Charmer. The follow-up to 2017's The Lower Side of Uptown was supposed to be released in 2024, but the death of Steve Albini (who produced the album) contributed to its two-year delay.
• Sevendust is scheduled to release their 15th studio album, One.
• May 8 – Social Distortion is scheduled to release their eighth studio album, Born to Kill. The band's follow-up to 2011's Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes was originally set for release in 2023, but vocalist and guitarist Mike Ness' diagnosis with stage one tonsil cancer delayed the album's release by three years.
• May 29
• English musician, and former Beatle, Paul McCartney is scheduled to release his 19th solo studio album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane. In production for nearly five years, the follow-up to McCartney III (2020) includes brand new tracks and reworked compositions that had previously never been recorded or released.
• Shinedown is scheduled to release their eighth studio album, Eight. The band had previously spent 2025 releasing singles from it, including "Three Six Five", "Dance, Kid, Dance", "Killing Fields", and "Searchlight".
• June 12 – Sublime is scheduled to release their first album in 30 years, Until the Sun Explodes. The album will be the first to feature vocals by Jakob Nowell, son of original vocalist, Bradley Nowell, who died in 1996, and had previously effectively ended the band's career outside of separate project Sublime with Rome.
• June 26
• Butthole Surfers are scheduled to release their first studio album in twenty-five years, After the Astronaut. It was originally intended for release in 1998 as the follow-up to Electriclarryland (1996), but following record label politics, it was shelved indefinitely and portions of the album were re-recorded in favor of Weird Revolution (2001).
• The Pretty Reckless are scheduled to release their fifth studio album, Dear God. Recording for the album began in mid-2023.
• English rock band Muse is set to release their tenth studio album, The Wow! Signal. They started working on it in February 2025.

Unknown dates

• Evanescence is scheduled to release their sixth studio album in early 2026, their first album in five years following The Bitter Truth in 2021.
• Slayer guitarist Kerry King is set to release his second studio album in early 2026. He started working on it after his first ever headlining tour.
• The Ataris are scheduled to release their sixth studio album in March or April 2026, their first since Welcome the Night (2007).
• Blondie is set to release their twelfth studio album, High Noon, in spring 2026. It will be the band's final album to feature its former drummer Clem Burke, who died in April 2025.
• English musician Peter Gabriel is set to release his eleventh solo album, and ninth of original material, O\I. Like its predecessor I/O (2023), this album sees Gabriel release a new song every full moon as singles before releasing it at the end of the year.
• Papa Roach is scheduled to release their twelfth studio album. Both singles released in advance of the album in 2025, "Even If It Kills Me", and "Braindead", topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts.
• Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to release a solo album in 2026.
• Alice in Chains is scheduled to release their seventh studio album, their first in eight years following Rainier Fog in 2018. The band had originally hoped to be more active in 2025, but plans were put on hold due to undisclosed health issues of drummer Sean Kinney.
• Welsh heavy metal band Bullet for My Valentine is set to release their eighth studio album, their first since their self-titled album in 2021. They started working on it in 2024.
• French heavy metal band Gojira is set to release their eighth studio album. It will be their first studio album since Fortitude in 2021, and since their live performance at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
• Steel Panther is set to release their seventh studio album, their first since On the Prowl in 2023. They began working on it in early 2025.
• English rock band Def Leppard is set to release their 13th studio album. After releasing a single titled "Just Like '73", guitarist Phil Collen said it was "the seed of a new Def Leppard album".
• Anthrax is set to release their twelfth studio album. It will be their first studio album in a decade, since For All Kings in 2016. Bassist Frank Bello said their upcoming album will be "heavier than ever".
• Korn plans to release their fifteenth studio album. Members have stated that they aim to meld their "vintage" sound with a "modern twist", and that it would go into a heavier direction. The band concurrently plans on celebrating the 30th anniversary of their 1994 self-titled first album. It will also be their first album without original bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, who left the band in 2021.
• Motionless in White is scheduled to release their seventh studio album, their first since Scoring the End of the World in 2022. The band is taking their time with its writing and recording, prioritizing quality over maintaining their momentum in popularity gains in the 2020s.
• Five Finger Death Punch is scheduled to release their tenth studio album. In May 2024, guitarist Zoltan Bathory revealed the band had been recording a follow up to AfterLife (2022).
• Limp Bizkit is working on their seventh studio album, they started working on new material in 2024, during their touring schedules. It will also be their first studio album since the death of original bassist Sam Rivers, who died in October 2025.
• Former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello is set to release his debut solo studio album. It is his first album after the band abruptly disbanded in early January 2024.
• Breaking Benjamin is scheduled to release their seventh studio album, their first since Ember (2018). Recording for the album began in either 2020 or 2021.
• Incubus completed their ninth studio album in 2025, and is scheduled to release it sometime within year end.
• German post-metal band The Ocean is set to release their eleventh studio album. It will be their first studio album following another line-up change, with it being the first studio album with drummer Jordi Farré.
• English rock band Deep Purple is set to release their 24th studio album.
• Everclear is set to release their tenth studio album, their first in eleven years following Black Is the New Black in 2015.
• New York hardcore pioneers the Cro-Mags are set to release their seventh studio album, their first in six years following In the Beginning in 2020. It will also be their first studio album with drummer Pete Hines since Best Wishes in 1989, following his return to the band in September 2025.
• Murphy's Law is set to release their sixth studio album, making it their first in 25 years since The Party's Over in 2001. "Go, Jimmy, Go" was the first single released in advance of the album's release in October 2025.
• The Rolling Stones are set to release their 25th studio album. The band had been back in the studio by mid-to-late-2025 working on the follow-up to Hackney Diamonds (2023).
• Soundgarden plans to release their seventh and final studio album, which will include the final recordings of frontman Chris Cornell, who died in 2017. The development of the album had faced multiple delays (including a dispute between the band and Cornell's estate handled by his wife Vicky, which was settled in 2023) before the surviving members began restarting work on it in 2025 with producer Terry Date.
• Yes is set to release their twenty-fourth studio album, Aurora.
• Weezer is set to release to release their sixteenth studio album, their first in five years following 2021's Van Weezer. The album's lead single "Shine Again" was released on April 1, 2026.

Tours and festivals

• Innings Festival was held from February 20 to February 22, 2026. It was headlined by Blink-182, Twenty One Pilots, and Mumford & Sons.
• Triumph's comeback tour, the Rock & Roll Machine Reloaded tour, is set to take place from April 22 to June 6, 2026. It will be their first major tour with the original lineup of Mike Levine, Gil Moore and Rik Emmett together since the latter's departure from the band in 1988.
• Sick New World is set to be held on April 25, 2026. It will be headlined by System of a Down, and Korn.
• Welcome to Rockville is set to be held from May 7 to May 10, 2026. It will be headlined by My Chemical Romance, and Bring Me the Horizon.
• Sonic Temple is set to be held from May 14 until May 17, 2026. It will be headlined by Tool, My Chemical Romance, Shinedown, and Bring Me the Horizon.
• Rush's reunion tour, the Fifty Something Tour, is set to take place from June 7 to December 17, 2026. It will be their first major tour in eleven years, and their first with drummer Anika Nilles filling in for the band's longtime drummer Neil Peart, who died in 2020.
• Warped Tour is set to be held in June, July, August, September, and November.
• Louder Than Life is set to be held from September 17 to September 20, 2026. It will be headlined by Iron Maiden, and My Chemical Romance.

Band breakups

• English post-hardcore band Svalbard is set to disband after completing their farewell tour. The band also plans on releasing one final song before disbanding.
• Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura is set to disband after completing their 40th anniversary farewell tour, and the release of their final EP, The Cloud of Unknowing, set to release on 24 April 2026.

Deaths

• 10 January – Bob Weir, 78, American rock guitarist and singer-songwriter (Grateful Dead)
• 20 January – Rob Hirst, 71, Australian rock drummer (Midnight Oil)
• 22 January – Francis Buchholz, 71, German hard rock and heavy metal bassist (Scorpions)
• 28 January
• Sly Dunbar, 73, Jamaican drummer (Sly and Robbie, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones)
• Billy Bass Nelson, 74, American bassist (Parliament-Funkadelic)
• 2 February – Chuck Negron, 83, American rock singer-songwriter (Three Dog Night)
• 5 February – Fred Smith, 77, American rock bassist (Television)
• 7 February
• Brad Arnold, 47, American rock singer-songwriter (3 Doors Down)
• Greg Brown, 56, American rock guitarist (Cake)
• 14 February – Tim Very, 42, American indie rock drummer (Manchester Orchestra)
• 17 February – Shinya Yamada, 56, Japanese rock drummer (Luna Sea)
• 27 February – Neil Sedaka, 86, American singer-songwriter
• 2 March – Mike Vernon, 81, English producer and record label owner (David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers)
• 7 March – Country Joe McDonald, 84, American psychedelic rock singer-songwriter (Country Joe and the Fish)
• 9 March – Tommy DeCarlo, 60, American rock singer (Boston)
• 13 March – Phil Campbell, 64, Welsh rock guitarist (Motörhead, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons)
• 16 March – Wayne Perkins, 74, American rock session guitarist (The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell)
• 23 March – Shinichiro Sato, 61, Japanese rock drummer (The Pillows)
• 25 March – Dash Crofts, 87, American soft rock singer and guitarist (Seals & Crofts)
• 26 March – Ross the Boss, 72, American punk rock and heavy metal guitarist (Manowar, The Dictators)

References