Melissa Etheridge has announced her new album, RISE!, and a tour called “The Rise Tour” for 2026. Fans have been eagerly waiting for this since she released the single “Don’t You Want A Woman” this fall. The album will come out on March 27 through Sun Records, and fans can pre-save and pre-order it now.
RISE is Etheridge’s first studio album in five years and is expected to be her most personal work yet. It features 11 new songs, including a duet with Chris Stapleton titled “The Other Side of Blue.” Etheridge wrote and co-produced the album with Grammy-winning producer Shooter Jennings. Jennings praised Etheridge, saying, “Working with Melissa was one of the greatest times of my life. She’s one of the greatest rock artists of our time.”
To give fans a preview of RISE, Etheridge has released a new single called “Matches.” In this song, she reflects on her early love for music, inspired by Johnny Cash’s performance at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth in 1970. She recalls, “I was 8, and a huge Johnny Cash fan. His music really lit my fingers and made me so excited.”
Songs from RISE will be performed on “The Rise Tour,” which kicks off on March 26 at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in Detroit. The tour will visit cities like Burlington, Portland, Poughkeepsie, Winston-Salem, Tulsa, and Austin, wrapping up on May 9 at the Weldon Mills Theatre in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. Tickets for all shows are on sale now.
Here are the tour dates:
– March 26 – Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, Detroit, MI
– March 27 – Venue TBA, Pickering, ON
– March 28 – The Vine at Del Lago Resort & Casino, Waterloo, NY
– March 31 – Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, VT
– April 2 – Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, NH
– April 3 – Stadium Theatre for the Performing Arts, Woonsocket, RI
– April 4 – Merrill Auditorium, Portland, ME
– April 8 – Plymouth Memorial Hall, Plymouth, MA
– April 10 – Bergen Performing Arts Center, Englewood, NJ
– April 11 – [Additional dates to be announced]
