Rock Music Icons Join Up For ‘Give Peace A Chance’ Tour
To celebrate the words and music of John Lennon and to draw attention to the need for peace in our time, we’ve gathered some of Australia’s most loved musicians to perform some of Lennon’s biggest hits from his solo career and The Beatles.
This July five electrifying Australian singer-songwriters — Adalita (Magic Dirt), Diesel, Steve Kilbey (the church), Isabella Manfredi (The Preatures) and Kevin Mitchell (Jebediah/Bob Evans) — join forces to perform the songs that defined a generation.
Set in Australia’s most prestigious venues – Brisbane’s QPAC Concert Hall (3 July), Hamer Hall (5 July), Sydney Opera House (6 July) and Adelaide Festival Theatre (12 July) – this is more than a tribute. It’s a celebration of Lennon the songwriter, the radical, the dreamer.
Backed by an all-star band lead by Ashley Naylor (Even/the church/Paul Kelly), Give Peace a Chance will bring new energy and reverence to Lennon’s most iconic works, from the raw power of Instant Karma! to the intimate heartbreak of Jealous Guy.
By the time John Lennon wrote Imagine, he had already reshaped popular music forever. A fearless creative force, he moved from the raw rock & roll of Twist and Shout to the psychedelic dreamscapes of Strawberry Fields Forever and the revolutionary grit of Come Together. His music was more than melody—it was protest, poetry, and a call to something bigger.
It almost feels like yesterday that the John Lennon song Give Peace a Chance, released on 4 July 1969, impacted on the world as a plea for us to come together in forgiveness, mutual respect and understanding.
55 years on and the world remains in a fragile place, facing many challenges that continue to shape our reality. As we come together to celebrate the enduring words and music of John Lennon we also raise our voices in protest and objection to the struggles that still affect so many parts of our world in 2025. Our intention is to make a statement, one that acknowledges the urgency of change while celebrating the powerful legacy of Lennon’s message of peace and hope.
Venue and ticket agency database pre-sales kick off at 10.00am (local times) on Tuesday, 18 March until 9.00am on Thursday, 20 March.
General public tickets go on sale at 10.00am (local times) on Thursday, 20 March. For full details click here
Tickets available from givepeaceachance.com.au
“I’m so excited to be part of the John Lennon “Give Peace a Chance” tour. His music has been a big part of my life since I was a kid, and it always resonates with me. It’s such an incredible opportunity to perform these iconic songs with such amazing artists, and I seriously can’t wait to be a part of this!”
ADALITA
“I’ve been enamoured by the songs of John Lennon since I was a child and I can’t wait to get my head and hands around his body of work with a truly inspiring array of people on stage.”
DIESEL
“John Lennon was the yin in the best songwriting partnership this world will probably ever see. As a singer he made so many breakthroughs into territory up till then unexplored by anyone before him. His music was sublime. It is at the very heart and fabric of the music we now call ‘rock’.”
STEVE KILBEY
“It isn’t anything technical, it’s more the feeling I get when I hear John’s voice. Everything stops and I’m transported. I get the feeling an ancestor is talking to me, or a many-faced god. John the little kid, the jealous man, the loser, the communist, the husband, the outcast, the poet, the bully and the thief. Everything’s on the table emotionally, and there’s a purity, a sincerity and an innocence about that even when he’s hamming it up. He could make the sweetest melody sharp as a razor’s edge, and the simplest lyric prophetic.”
ISABELLA MANFREDI
“The music of John Lennon is in my DNA. He has always been my favourite Beatle, and his solo career provides just as much magic as his days with the Fab 4. What a dizzyingly spectacular songbook he has left for us all!”
KEVIN MITCHELL
