Black Box Recorder to Play First Show in 17 Years
Black Box Recorder will play their first live show in seventeen years when they take to the stage at The London Palladium on 22nd May 2026, thanks in no small part to superstar pop maverick Billie Eilish.
The highly acclaimed band has been on hiatus since their last concert at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2009. However, in 2023, unbeknownst to Black Box Recorder, their 1998 debut ‘England Made Me’ had been re-discovered by Billie Eilish, who began sharing their banned-by-the-BBC first single ‘Child Psychology’ with her millions of fans on social media.
And so, in 2026, with nearly 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 100 million streams, Black Box Recorder will rise again to thank their legions of new fans at The London Palladium.
A venue pre-sale will take place from 9.00am on Wednesday 3rd December 2025, before tickets go on general sale at 9.00am on Friday 5th December 2025, available from https://fanlink.tv/BlackBoxRecorderGenSale.
Originally conceived as an art/noise project, Black Box Recorder were formed in 1997 by Luke Haines, John Moore and Sarah Nixey. Once early attempts at ‘experimental noise’ were out of their system, it was down to the serious business of writing the songs that would appear on their debut album.
That record, ‘England Made Me’ appeared in early 1998 and was a state of the nation address, with recording having begun on the day Tony Blair’s New Labour government took power. The album was a critically acclaimed instant classic.
A second album ‘The Facts Of Life’ followed in 2000 and was a chart success, with the album’s title track a top twenty single, seeing Black Box Recorder on Top Of The Pops.
Black Box Recorder’s third and final album, ‘Passionoia’, arrived in 2003 – but then it went quiet for six years, until the band performed their last live show in 2009.
Looking forward to the date, Black Box Recorder said, “This is not about nostalgia, this is about vindication, redemption and celebration. Come all, old and young”.
Feature Image Photo Credit: Brian David Stevens (l-r John Moore, Sarah Nixey and Luke Haines)
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