This Week In Music News 19 September 2025

Political punks, the passing of a beloved pop icon, festival follies, more tours and new music from some hardcore legends – it’s all here in this week’s music news wrap.

This week in music news, the assassination of Charlie Kirk inevitably flowed over into the music world, with controversial British rap-punk duo Bob Vylan criticised for on-stage comments about the recent shooting.

At a recent show, singer Pascal Robinson-Foster sarcastically dedicated a song to Charlie, describing him as an “absolute piece of s**t of a human being”, continuing with: “’Cause if you talk s**t you will get banged. Rest in piss, Charlie Kirk, you piece of s**t.”

The outburst comes amid a firestorm of online commentary and responses following Charlie Kirk’s shooting on a Utah university campus last week. Following the backlash to his statement, Robinson-Foster doubled down in a video posted to social media. The controversy comes after Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance where Robinson-Foster engaged the audience in a chant of “death, death to the IDF.”

A beloved ‘60s legend of pop music passed away this week, Bobby Hart, of The Monkees, aged 86. Hart died in his Los Angeles home and had been in poor health since breaking his hip last year. Hart, along with co-writer Tommy Boyce, wrote hit songs like ‘Last Train to Clarksville’ and ‘(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone’. Hart and Boyce also co-wrote the iconic theme to The Monkees’ television show.

The highly anticipated 2026 Coachella line up dropped this week with a less than enthusiastic response from fans and music media. Next year’s desert venture features headliners Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter and Karol G, along with performances from Young Thug, the xx, Turnstile, David Byrne, FKA twigs, Addison Rae, Ethel Cain and plenty more. It’s been slated as an underwhelming line-up for one of the world’s premier live music events, especially considering the ticket price. General admission tickets start at $649 for weekend one and $549 for weekend two of Coachella.

In a massive shake-up, Laneway Festival is dropping Brisbane for its 2026 edition, moving to Southport Sharks on Gold Coast. It’s the first time Laneway won’t be in Brisbane, owing to an upcoming redevelopment of the festival’s venue Brisbane Showgrounds ahead of the 2032 Olympics.

Laneway Festival 2026 features headliner Chappell Roan as well as Alex G, Benee, Cavetown, The Dare, Wet Leg, Wolf Alice, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, and more at Auckland 5 February, Gold Coast 7 February, Sydney 8 February, Melbourne 13 February and Adelaide 14 February.

In tour news, disco-pop queen Sophie Ellis-Bextor brings murder to Australian dancefloors next year with a national tour. Sophie is touring in support of her recently released new studio album ‘Perimenopop’, featuring the singles ‘Freedom Of The Night’ and ‘Relentless Love’. “I’ve been bringing my new album ‘Perimenopop’ around with me on my travels these past couple of weeks and I must say, she is great company,” Sophie says. Sophie Ellis-Bextor plays Forum Melbourne 6 February, Roundhouse (Sydney) 7 February, The Tivoli (Brisbane) 10 February and Ice Cream Factory (Perth) 12 February.

Rammstein frontman and German industrial metal cavalier Till Lindemann brings his reconceptualised solo show to Australia in January next year for the first time ever. Lindemann will perform his own solo material on the ‘Meine Welt’ tour, accompanied by special guests Melancolia. Till Lindemann’s ‘Meine Welt’ tour comes to Brisbane Fortitude Music Hall 15 January, Hordern Pavilion 17 January, Pica (Melbourne) 18 January, AEC Theatre (Adelaide) 20 January and Metro City (perth (22 January).

Rounding out this week in music news is the surprising announcement of new music from Brooklyn hardcore legends Biohazard. The band have released an explosive new single ‘Death Of Me’, taken from upcoming album ‘Divided We Fall. It’s the first new music from Biohazard in more than a decade.

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