Sparks proved at Melbourne's Palais Theatre on 28 May 2026 that great live music does not require giant video screens, elaborate stage sets or theatrical props. With five musicians on stage, standard concert lighting and a catalogue stretching back more than 50 years, brothers Ron and Russell Mael delivered a riveting 100-minute performance that demonstrated how enduring songs and committed musicianship remain the most powerful tools in live entertainment.

The Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix has unveiled the first artists for its 2026 entertainment program, confirming performances from Split Enz, Goo Goo Dolls, Mark Ronson, DJ Snake, Major Lazer Soundsystem and Rev Run, but the announcement stops short of including Paul McCartney, whose name surfaced earlier this month following comments made by Neil Finn on Australian television.

Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Young MC, The Commodores and Morris Day And The Time have all withdrawn from the Great American State Fair, citing concerns over the event's political associations.

A US federal judge has ordered the removal of Trump's name from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, ruling that the Kennedy Center's board acted outside its legal authority when it renamed the venue. The decision also halts plans to temporarily close the Washington DC institution for a major two-year renovation project, marking a significant setback for Trump's efforts to reshape one of America's most prominent cultural landmarks.

A one-night tribute concert celebrating the catalogue of Australian music icon John Farnham will take place at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena on 20 September 2026, bringing together more than 120 performers, a 38 piece orchestra, choir and Farnham's longtime touring band in support of Head and Neck Cancer Australia. The event, titled The Songs Of John Farnham: A Living Legend The Celebration Concert, will feature Australian and international artists performing songs from across Farnham's career, although organisers confirmed Farnham himself will not perform.

Connecticut metalcore band Boundaries have unveiled new single ‘Only Endless', the latest track from their forthcoming fourth studio album Yearning: The Unbeautiful After, due on July 17 through Sumerian Records. The release arrives as the band prepares for a busy international touring cycle that includes major European festival appearances, North American arena dates with Knocked Loose, and performances at Warped Tour and Louder Than Life.

Violet Grohl has officially launched her recording career with the release of her debut album Be Sweet To Me, issued through Auroura Records and Republic Records on Friday. The 11-track record arrives alongside the announcement of Grohl's first headline tour, which begins tonight in Los Angeles, and ahead of her scheduled television debut on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on June 3.

A growing number of artists have pulled out of Freedom 250 Presents: The Great American State Fair, the 16 day event set for Washington D.C.'s National Mall next month, after concerns emerged over the festival's links to Trump and the broader political positioning of the celebration.

The Rubens have returned with ‘Are You Getting High', a new single that sees the New South Wales band lean further into the introspective songwriting that has defined much of their recent work. Released as the follow-up to ‘Goanna', the track explores the uneasy emotional space that follows the end of a relationship, capturing the tension between acceptance and unresolved resentment.

by Paul Cashmere The cost of seeing live music has transformed dramatically over the past four decades, with arena and stadium concert ticket prices now outpacing inflation at a rate few other entertainment sectors can match. In the mid-1980s, a major concert ticket typically cost between $12 and $15. In 2026, premium tickets for the world's biggest tours regularly exceed $500, while VIP packages can stretch beyond $1,000. The shift has fundamentally changed not only the economics of touring, but also the behaviour of audiences in Australia, North America and Europe.

Sleeping With Sirens have delivered one of the heaviest tracks of their career with the release of ‘Paralyzed', the latest preview of forthcoming album An Ending In Itself, due June 12 through Rise Records. The Florida formed post-hardcore band unveiled the song without advance notice, offering fans a first look at a record the group says reconnects with the raw instincts that defined its early years.

Australian singer-songwriter Mia Wray has returned with the new single ‘Isn't It Funny', a track that continues the introspective songwriting direction established on her recent release ‘When We Were Young', arriving after one of the biggest touring periods of her career. The song follows Wray's appearance on Ed Sheeran's 17-date Australian and New Zealand stadium tour earlier this year, exposing the Melbourne-based artist to her largest audiences to date.

Sepultura have confirmed the final concert of their career, with the Brazilian metal pioneers set to perform one last time on November 7, 2026 at Mercado Livre Arena Pacaembu in São Paulo, Brazil. The farewell event will conclude the band's long-running Celebrating Life Through Death tour and bring to a close more than four decades of activity that reshaped thrash, groove and death metal on a global scale.

The Durutti Colum have announced their first album in 16 years.

by Paul Cashmere The modern music charts used by ARIA, Billboard and the UK's Official Charts Company now measure an entirely different form of consumer behaviour than the charts of the vinyl, cassette and CD eras. While chart headlines frequently compare contemporary streaming milestones with historical sales achievements, industry analysts increasingly acknowledge that the two systems are built on fundamentally incompatible metrics.