Rag ‘n’ Bone Man Hits Adelaide Tonight…

Grammy-winning British artist Rag’n’Bone Man, born Rory Graham, returns to Australia in 2025 for his first tour down under since 2018. Known for his powerful blend of blues, hip hop, and soul, Rag’n’Bone Man’s deep, resonant baritone has captivated fans around the globe. Since bursting onto the international stage with his 2016 global hit Human, the singer-songwriter has continued to amass critical acclaim and accolades, including multiple BRIT Awards and chart-topping albums.

Rag’n’Bone Man’s debut album Human, which includes the breakout title track, went 4x platinum and cemented his place as one of the most distinctive voices of his generation. His follow-up album, Life By Misadventure (2021), continued his chart success, debuting at #1 on the UK Albums Chart and remaining in the Top 10 for seven weeks. Featuring standout singles like All You Ever Wanted and Anywhere Away From Here (a duet with Pink), the album showcases his emotive storytelling and genre-defying sound.

Rag’n’Bone Man has garnered widespread praise for his soulful live performances, sharing stages with the likes of Calvin Harris, Gorillaz, and Pink. His 2025 Australian tour will mark his highly anticipated return, performing in cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth. Fans can expect an unforgettable evening of live music, featuring hits from his acclaimed albums Human and Life By Misadventure as well as new material. With his unmistakable voice and deeply moving performances, Rag’n’Bone Man is set to deliver a tour that will resonate with Australian audiences long after the final note. Rory talks to Hi Fi Way ahead of his show at Hindley Street Music Hall.

First Australian tourist since 2018. You must be looking forward to getting this one underway?
I know. Fuck, it’s been a while, right?

So what are you looking forward to most about touring Australia?
English audiences are fairly similar, but I haven’t seen you guys for a long time, so it’d be nice to see people’s faces again. I just like connecting with people and that’s my favourite thing about music is being able to connect with people and playing some songs. I just like the sense of humour and whenever I’ve been before, my first point of call is the pub and talk to people because I like getting to know the locals a bit.

Playing one of Australia’s biggest festivals Bluesfest boys and Roots and the being the fine one. That must be a bit of a buzz as well.
It’s a buzz, but also quite sad at the same time. It’s almost like Australian Glastonbury. It’s such a big festival and it’s crazy that it’s not going to be happening anymore. I’m really glad and really honoured to be a part of it.

On this tour, are you focusing mostly on the new album?
Yeah, I think because we haven’t been to Australia for, six, seven years I think we are going to concentrate on the new record, but I want to play people the songs that they want to hear. I’m not like, I’m not like one of those, I’m not just going to play album tracks and the ones I want. I want people to hear the whole sort of catalogue and trying to pick the best bits from each record and play those.

Have you been stoked with how the new album’s been received by fans around the world?
Yeah, man, I mean, it was meant to be something joyous. It was meant to be something that made people feel good. I think from the response so far, that’s what it’s done. I’m just really happy to go and try and portray the record live. Hopefully people will get it.

Was that a challenging album to make?
I think the way I put it is I don’t think I’ve ever written an album with as much intent or motivation to figure out a sound before. I started the record with this one song called The Right Way, and it kicked off the way I wanted the album to feel and to sound. It felt like after that song and then What Do You Believe In? song in particular, everything else just followed suit, so it wasn’t like difficult, but I wanted it to sound cohesive and just feel like it had its own sound. I don’t think I’ve ever really done that before. I’ve always just written songs and put them all together. With this one I think I concentrated more on the production and instrumentation making sure it felt like a proper album.

Did a lot of that come together in the studio?
Well, I think when I first started writing those songs, it was playing them live a few times before the songs were finished in a studio that helped me figure out how they should sound. It’s not the done thing to play like songs that aren’t out and songs that don’t exist yet on the road. But I think for me it’s important sometimes just to play them a couple times to an audience, to see how they come across and how they feel live, which enables me to go back in the studio and go, well, this works or this doesn’t work.

Does this set a blueprint for what might be the next album?
Yeah, I haven’t really even really thought about what the next album is going to be, but I am writing songs at the moment. I don’t know what it’s going to be yet though. It’s going to take me a while to figure that out.

Beyond the tour, what’s next?
I love being on the road and I have a family as well, and it’s sometimes a bit difficult when you’ve got young children. I’ve my two little boys who are seven and eight and it’s hard to be away from them for long periods of time. I still love touring as much as I did when I first started, if not more. I want to be on the road. I’ll get the summer done and then, I don’t know what’s next but I’ll figure it out.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Rag ‘n Bone Man at Hindley Street Music Hall on Friday 25 April, tickets HERE…