Shinedown reveal new album, a single, a tour and their point of view about Rock The Country
Author Benedetta Baldin - 17.2.2026
Shinedown has revealed the details of their upcoming studio album, “EI8HT,” and has scheduled the release date for May 29th, as per theprp. The latest advance single off this new album is “Safe And Sound,” which was released by the multi-platinum hard rock group, who are currently dealing with the fallout from their disastrous “Rock The Country” festival. To promote this record, the band will embark on their “Dance Kid Dance Act ll World Tour.” Coheed and Cambria, Black Stone Cherry,Those Damn Crows, and From Ashes To New will all provide support during that run. Brian Storm, presenter of Rock Feed, will warm up the crowd with a DJ performance at the beginning of many of those shows.
This album is over a year in the making. Without question as a band we pushed ourselves like never before. Especially when it comes to Eric. Myself, Zach, and Barry are so honored to create, and work with such an extraordinary producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, musician, performer, and band mate. We are so excited to finally announce our 8th Studio album titled ‘EI8HT‘ alongside our ‘Dance Kid Dance Act ll World Tour‘.
‘Safe And Sound‘ is about reminding the competition what they are dealing with one by one.
Monday, August 17, 2026 – Edmonton, AB, Canada – Rogers Place
Thursday, August 20, 2026 – Fargo, ND, USA – Fargodome
Friday, August 21, 2026 – Welch, MN, USA – Treasure Island Resort (no From Ashes to New)
Sunday, August 23, 2026 – Springfield, IL, USA – Illinois State Fair
Friday, September 4, 2026 – Dyersville, IA, USA – Velocity Festival (Shinedown only)
Thursday, September 10, 2026 – McHenry, IL, USA – McHenry Music Festival (Shinedown only)
With Those Damn Crows:
Saturday, October 31, 2026 – Paris, France – Zénith Paris – La Villette
Monday, November 2, 2026 – Milan, Italy – Alcatraz
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 – Tilburg, Netherlands – O13
Friday, November 6, 2026 – Prague, Czech Republic – Forum Karlín
Sunday, November 8, 2026 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Falkonersalen
Monday, November 9, 2026 – Stockholm, Sweden – Annexet
Wednesday, November 11, 2026 – Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle
Thursday, November 12, 2026 – Düsseldorf, Germany – Mitsubishi Electric Halle
Saturday, November 14, 2026 – Birmingham, UK – bp pulse Live (with Coheed And Cambria)
Monday, November 16, 2026 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro (with Coheed And Cambria)
Tuesday, November 17, 2026 – Nottingham, UK – Motorpoint Arena (with Coheed And Cambria)
Thursday, November 19, 2026 – London, UK – OVO Arena Wembley (with Coheed And Cambria)
Friday, November 20, 2026 – Manchester, UK – AO Arena (with Coheed And Cambria)
Sunday, November 22, 2026 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Olympia Theatre (with Coheed And Cambria)
The controversy surrounding Shinedown‘s now-past participation in the yearly “Rock The Country” festival has been addressed by singer Brent Smith. Shinedown announced earlier this month that they will not be playing at that year’s traveling event due to strong social media criticism. The “Rock The Country” festival, which is headed by Kid Rock, has been widely perceived as a MAGA-oriented bill because it often books performers who share Republican views. Although Shinedown wasn’t the first act to withdraw from this year’s program, their drummer Barry Kerch’s choice to label rapper Ludacris a “coward” for leaving the festival so soon after it was announced undoubtedly fueled the ire of Shinedown fans.
On Feburary 6th, the band revealed they had withdrawn from the bill. The festival’s scheduled July 25–26 stop in Anderson, South Carolina, was abruptly canceled due to the multi-platinum hard rock group’s departure. The two-date tour was scheduled with Creed as the opening act and Shinedown as the second act to headline. Smith also discussed the issue surrounding “Rock The Country” and the division their decision to perform at the festival had caused among their fan base in a recently released interview with Rolling Stone.
We saw infighting that we had never seen before, and for us, it was our job to diffuse it. There were certain people that were not happy about [pulling back.] I will say that there was an overwhelming amount of people that agreed with the decision.… You’re entitled to your opinion 1,000 percent in this country, and that’s one of the beautiful things about it.
Smith continued by adding this, stating that he was neither a Democrat nor a Republican during the conversation.
I just want to remind everybody, it says the ‘United States of America’ — And a lot of people right now don’t feel united.
Smith continued by attributing his ability to see beyond gender, sexual orientation, religion, and skin color to his upbringing.
That is what makes you who you are, and we are all on this planet, and we occupy it together.
Speaking briefly on his political beliefs, Smith also raised the intriguing subject of whether it would be possible to “fix” the United States’ current broken identity by fielding candidates from rival parties.
If you’re a Democrat, why can’t you have a Republican for your running mate?
Such partnerships are not unprecedented in American politics, but given the current environment, they are practically unimaginable.
