Shinedown’s Brent Smith On Their Long Awaited Return Down Under…

Australia and New Zealand, get ready! Two indisputable rock icons will join forces in 2026, with American chart-toppers SHINEDOWN and British alternative legends BUSH teaming up for a massive co-headline tour this September, with the tour also marking SHINEDOWN’s first performances down under in over fifteen years.

A band well-versed in making history, SHINEDOWN formed in the early 2000s and have since gone on to generate over eight billion streams, while also ticking off a record-breaking twenty four #1 rock hits, fifteen platinum and gold singles, platinum or gold certification for all of their albums, and major media acclaim along the way. With their reputation for weaving timely and honest messages into their chart-smashing songs, SHINEDOWN are a rarity in the modern scene, resonating both with their global audience and the rock community, as well as culture at large. Set to expand yet again beyond their quintessential hits like Second Chance, Sound of Madness and MONSTERS in 2026, SHINEDOWN have release their eighth studio album, EI8HT, back in May, with the follow up to 2022’s Planet Zero.

One of rock’s most revered live acts, SHINEDOWN’s relentless energy and audience connection have been a staple of their performances for decades, with their diverse back catalogue balancing moments of spectacle with breaths of emotive finesse. Whether performing with Papa Roach, Halestorm, Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch and many more, wowing in arenas across the globe or captivating major festivals worldwide, SHINEDOWN know how to ignite the party for any and all stages. With over fifteen years having now passed since the group have graced Australian crowds, SHINEDOWN’s return in 2026 will undeniably showcase to audiences down under. It was a huge privilege speaking to vocalist Brent Smith about their long awaited return.

Shinedown and Bush — Bush and Shinedown — it doesn’t matter how you look at it. It’s a brilliant pairing.
It’s the co‑headline!

Yeah, unbelievable. I still couldn’t believe it, looking at the gig poster and thinking, is this actually happening?
Only took sixteen years!

Only sixteen years. I saw you at Soundwave back in 2010, good times. That was an incredible tour. You must’ve had some awesome memories from that run?
I think my favourite memory was we had two days off before we played, I want to say Brisbane, and I got to see Jimmy Eat World do a full club show. They were on that festival with Paramore and Faith No More. It was a really cool experience. But that was the only time we’d ever been to Australia. Now we’re coming back, and we’re doing New Zealand for the very first time ever on this tour as well. It’s been sixteen years of trying to figure out how to get back. Last year we were touring with Bush, and Gavin and I were talking about it. I said, “Listen, you’ve gone to Australia multiple times, how do you guys do it?” He told me how they’d make it work, and then I just said, “Why don’t we do it together?” He was down immediately. So we decided to do it as a co‑headline. Financially we’re splitting the cost, which helps everyone. But everyone should know, you’re getting all the bells and whistles. We’re not messing around. We’re bringing everything to you.

Were you ever worried the planets were never going to align, that it was never actually going to happen, or you’d never find the right timing or opportunity? Especially after sixteen years?
I’ll be honest, it was always a financial issue stopping us. But the four of us in the band, and our team… we’ve been with the same record label for twenty four years, Warner Music Group internationally, Atlantic Records in the US. Same management company for two decades. That’s rare. They do their jobs by giving you the reasons to do it, the reasons not to do it, the financial aspects, “you’re making a lot of money here,” “this territory is expensive,” all that. But it got to the point where I said, I’m not letting another year go by without playing this country. We have a fan base there. We want to play Australia. We want to go to New Zealand. We want to go down under. We even tried to get dates in Tasmania, we just couldn’t make it work financially, but we’re still working on that for the next couple of years. Eventually we said, “We know what the finances are. We’re going.”

You mentioned Gavin Rossdale before, the legendary Gavin Rossdale. Is it all cooking talk backstage now with his big cooking show?
Man, Gavin is necessary in life. He is one of the most wonderful human beings on the planet, literally one of the finest men I know. He loves his kids, he’s got his boys out there, and obviously losing his long time manager Peter was really difficult for him and a lot of people. But he just exudes positive energy. He’s one of the greatest guys in the world and yes, I’ve had him cook for me. We did a tour with Morgan Wade, and we had this three‑day event at a house where he was cooking for everyone. They threw weird ingredients at him and he had to make stuff fast. He’s a fantastic chef, not just a cook. He takes it seriously. He’s very elegant with it, and it’s an art, the textures, the way he plays around with food, how he presents it, the flavours. It’s very artistic. That dude is a gem all around.

Touring with a new album must create even more of a buzz and make it all the more exciting for you guys?
Yeah, the record took a year and a half to make, on purpose, because we worked really hard on it. There’s a lot of new material. Each city down under is getting a different set list. The goal is all killer, no filler. But when you haven’t played a territory in over a decade, you have to look at the songs you know you’re not getting out of there unless you play them. It could be a riot if we don’t. Every city has its own set list. It’s difficult with thirty eight singles and eight records to figure that out. Our set is three hours.

A three hour set will work!
I wish, it’s only seventy five minutes for each band. But I think everybody’s going to get what they want. A lot of people have chimed in online. Some are doing multiple cities, and some are even doing every show, starting in New Zealand and then hitting every date in Australia. I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to a tour more than this. I’m just so excited to do it.

Building on that, the positivity and overwhelming feedback around the new album must be huge for you?
Yeah, this has been received more than anything. It’s continuously growing, and the awareness keeps building. You have release day, and that week is big, but this record just keeps getting more and more exposure. Not just because of the singles, but because people are doing deep dives into the album, probably more than any other record we’ve made. It’s interesting, the record’s only two, two and a half months old, maybe almost three but the album itself keeps gaining more awareness, not just the singles. Having the time to put that kind of work into a record… you can’t phone anything in. We don’t make “album tracks.” If it’s on the record, it’s because we want everyone to hear it. We needed the time. We do the records in house. Eric Bass, our brother, our bass player, but he’s more than that. He plays multiple instruments, he’s an incredible songwriter, producer, engineer, mixer. He’s produced, engineered, and mixed the last three full length records: Attention Attention, Planet Zero, and now Eight. We’re probably in the studio together the most. His skillset is rare to be in a band with someone who can do all that. So it takes time. We make sure everything feels right for us before we present it to the world, because once you present it, it doesn’t belong to you anymore.

How many tough decisions were there narrowing down the final track selection? There were eighteen songs, must’ve been some hard choices?
There were. Probably around twenty five working elements in total. Some stuff didn’t get finished. Some stuff surprised us later on when we refined it. So Glad That You Asked was one of those. I didn’t know if that song was going to make the record. Then Eric did this vocal part I didn’t know about. I came into the session and he said, “I’m gonna play you something.” He played it, and when his voice came in, every hair on the back of my neck stood up. I loved it. It became a different song. He said, “I’ll set the mic up for you to sing the parts,” and I said, “I’m not singing anything, you already sang it.” Everything on that record is there for a reason. Those eighteen songs are meant to be there.

Having a couple of months with the album now, has the way you think about it changed? Do you feel even prouder of it?
I’m always proud of it. There’s not a record, from the debut to this one, that I don’t love. Each album is a snapshot of the artist at that moment in their career. This one is a snapshot of where we were at. The beautiful thing is it doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to the audience. It will constantly evolve.

Are you able to listen to the album in the car or at home? Do you still get that feeling from it without critiquing yourself?
I listened to it, no BS, front to back for the first time two days ago when I got off tour. I hadn’t listened to it in like two months and I just wanted to. At the end of it I was like, “Pretty good.” I’m usually done critiquing myself after the mix. Once the mix is finished, the cherry on top is Ted Jensen, he masters our records and he’s a legend. The master is always the fun part, the finishing touches. But no, I can listen to it as a fan now.

So what’s next for Shinedown? Is touring’s going to keep you busy for another twelve to eighteen months, maybe longer.
We’re headed to you guys and girls, then when we come back in October we’ve got a couple of festival dates in the US. Then we have our own festival, the first inaugural year of the Shinedown Lunatic Ball Beach Weekend, a six day destination festival in Florida. It’s completely sold out. That’s basically a week of our life. Then we head to the UK and Europe in November. In December there’s an announcement coming, I can’t say what it is yet, but there’s stuff happening and next year there’s a huge announcement, but it won’t be revealed until January. We’re finalising Asia, we haven’t been there in forever, and looking at possibilities for next year. South America and Mexico are also on the list. I’m hoping we can pull off going to South Africa for the first time next year. There are US and Canadian dates being worked on too and there’s a big anniversary coming in 2028. I’m usually five years ahead.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Shinedown on tour with Bush on the following dates, tickets from Destroy All Lines…