With 2021 now in the rear-view mirror, it’s a good time to look ahead at some of the artists planning to release new music in the new year.
January alone will see the arrival of new studio efforts by John Mellencamp, Jethro Tull and Elvis Costello and the Imposters.
Mellencamp’s new album, Strictly a One-Eyed Jack, will be released on January 21, and will include three collaborations with Bruce Springsteen.
Jethro Tull’s first new studio album in 18 years, The Zealot Gene, will be issued a week later, on January 28, while Costello his longtime backing group’s latest, The Boy Named If, will hit stores on January 14.
Releases scheduled for February include Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators‘ 4 on February 4; Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder‘s Earthling on February 11; and Scorpions‘ Rock Believer and Guns N’ Roses‘ Hard Skool EP on February 25. The Hard Skool EP will include two recent GN’R singles — the title track and “Absurd” — as well as recent live versions of “Don’t Cry” and “You’re Crazy.”
The following month, Bryan Adams has a new album called So Happy It Hurts scheduled for a March 11 release.
Other artists who are expected to release albums this year include Journey, Todd Rundgren, Ozzy Osbourne, Joe Walsh and, possibly, Springsteen, who revealed in May 2021 that he had “a record coming out soon that’s set largely in the West.”
Rundgren’s previously announced album, Space Force, features Todd collaborating with a variety of musicians. Osbourne’s as-yet-untitled album, which is expected out around springtime, will include contributions from his Black Sabbath band mate Tony Iommi, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and other guest stars.
Here’s a list of notable confirmed and expected releases for 2022, by month:
1/7:
David Bowie, TOY (TOY:BOX) (box set focusing on unreleased 2000 album)
1/14:
Elvis Costello & The Imposters, The Boy Named If
1/21:
John Mellencamp, Strictly a One-Eyed Jack
1/28:
Jethro Tull, The Zealot Gene
Steve Vai, Inviolate
2/4:
Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, 4
2/11:
Eddie Vedder, Earthling
2/25:
Scorpions, Rock Believer
Guns N’ Roses, Hard Skool EP
3/11:
Bryan Adams, So Happy It Hurts
3/25:
Various Artists, Legacy: A Tribute to Leslie West (featuring Slash, Zakk Wylde, Dee Snider, Martin Barre, Joe Lynn Turner, Elliot Easton, Robby Krieger & others)
4/29:
Ted Nugent, Detroit Muscle
Unconfirmed or details not yet announced:
Megadeth, The Sick, the Dying and the Dead
Todd Rundgren, Space Force
Journey — TBA
Ozzy Osbourne — TBA
Bruce Springsteen — TBA
Joe Walsh — TBA
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