Whether you are in the front row at a sold-out pop show or watching your friend’s band practice, the 2026 music scene is shaping up to be a fun year. Grab your earbuds or put a record on the player and enjoy these upcoming beats:
LOCAL LISTENS
Locally, the Tampa Bay area has two standout music festivals.
The EDM-focused Breakaway Music Festival is April 17-18 at Raymond James Stadium with Tiësto as a headliner.
The Tampa Bay Blues Festival will be held April 10-12at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg from. Headliners include 60’s rock legend Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band and blues virtuoso Kenny Wayne Shepherd.
NATIONAL TOURS
Canadian prog-rock legends Rush return with its 50 Something tour in honor of late drummer Neil Peart for a 56-show schedule. German drumming virtuoso Anika Nilles was selected to replace Peart for the new tour.
Punk superstars My Chemical Romance is continuing its successful “Long Live the Black Parade” tour in 2026 by celebrating 20 years of The Black Parade album.
The tour brings energetic and theatrical rock music to the masses across the U.S.
Bad Bunny is continuing his Debí Tirar Más Fotos world tour after his triumphant Super Bowl halftime show and his Grammy Album of the Year award.
Ariana Grande is hitting the road with the eternal sunshine tour, celebrating her latest studio album with a short run of stadium shows. She is back touring after a long break to focus on acting in the Wicked movie series.
ICYMI
- The beginning of 2026 started off with new albums from metal bands Megadeth and Beyond the Black, and the music industry shows no signs of slowing down.
- Hip-Hop icon J. Cole released The Fall-Off on Feb. 6th. Other major pop records include Bruno Mars dropping The Romantic on Feb. 27th, which is his first solo album since 2016.
- Harry Styles is releasing Kiss All the Time on March 6th as a follow up to 2022’s “Harry’s South Korean megastars BTS makes its comeback with a new album Arirang on March 20.
- Metal icon Rob Zombie’s The Great Sa*** is set for release late February to early March. Damon Albarn’s cartoon-pop band Gorillaz is releasing The Mountain on Feb. 27.
