The announcement is accompanied with the release of the first single from the album “Penge“. You can listen to the new single below, which lead singer John Lydon described as “something of a medieval Viking epic.”

The single was released yesterday, on April 11th, before the news of the tour and album was announced. The band posted videos of the band in the studio on Twitter in anticipation of the release, as shown below.

Penge – New PiL single released Tuesday, April 11th. Also look out for a big announcement the same day…

See PiL and John Lydon socials for teasers over the next few days… pic.twitter.com/DMP8cD4vS0

— Public Image Ltd (@pilofficial) April 6, 2023

The big announcement comes after the news that John Lydon‘s wife of forty-four years, Nora Forster, died this week at the age of eighty. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2018. The band posted the news on Twitter, as seen below, also announcing that the upcoming album would be released in her honour.

Rest in Peace Nora Forster 1/2 It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Nora Forster – John Lydon’s wife of nearly 5 decades – has passed away. Nora had been living with Alzheimer’s for several years. In which time John had become her full time carer. pic.twitter.com/mEabNLmrHy — Public Image Ltd (@pilofficial) April 6, 2023

They also announced below their plans to continue with the release and tour, despite the awful news.

PiL have decided to continue plans to announce their 11th studio album End of World, following the sad passing of John’s wife Nora Forster. End of World will be released on 11th August followed by a 38-date UK & European Tour.

See https://t.co/LWN0WufLlG website for full info pic.twitter.com/tKvhiQ3prX

— Public Image Ltd (@pilofficial) April 11, 2023

The final song on the album “Hawaii“, was released earlier this year, in honour of John’s wife. It is described on the band’s official website as “the most personal piece of songwriting and accompanying artwork that John Lydon has ever shared. The song is a love letter to John’s late wife Nora.”

The statement continued, calling it “A pensive, personal yet universal love song that has resonated with many since its release in January, the song sees John reflecting on their lifetime well spent and in particular one of their happiest moments together in Hawaii. John said, “Nora loved the album, she wouldn’t have wanted us to postpone it or change any of our plans.” Previously he has said of Hawaii, “It is dedicated to everyone going through tough times on the journey of life, with the person they care for the most.”

The offical tracklist for the album End Of World is as follows:

1. “Penge”
2. “End Of The World”
3. “Car Chase”
4. “Being Stupid Again”
5. “Walls”
6. “Pretty Awful”
7. “Strange”
8. “Down On The Clown”
9. “Dirty Murky Delight”
10. “The Do That”
11. “L.F.C.F”
12. “North West Passage”
13. “Hawaii”

The band, also known as PiL, was formed by singer John Lydon, formerly of the Sex Pistols, in 1978. He formed the band with guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and drummer Jim Walker, but has remained the only constant member since. The band’s music is of the post-punk genre, but has a distinct experimental sound often associated with John Lydon’s style of singing.

The band released their debut album First Issue in 1978, the first of 11 albums. There was a seventeen year hiatus between 1992 and 2009, before Lydon brought the band back together for two new albums and a world tour. In 2018, PiL celebrated their 40th anniversary with the release of a box set of career highlights, a documentary, which were both called The Public Image Is Rotten’, and a 32-date UK/Europe/Japan tour.

John Lydon, Lu Edmonds, Scott Firth and Bruce Smith continue as the official line up of PiL.

You can pre order the album here, due to be released on the 11th of August.

Stream the new single here:

Tickets for the tour can be purchased here from the 14th April at 10am. Presale starts on the 12th. The tour begins in Swansea, in September, and all 15 UK dates are listed below:

11/09/2023 – Patti Pavilion – Swansea
12/09 – Dreamland – Margate
13/09 – Engine Shed – Lincoln
15/09 – King George’s Hall – Blackburn
16/09 – Tivoli – Buckley
18/09 – Fire Station – Sunderland
19/09 – Beach Ballroom – Aberdeen
21/09 – O2 Academy – Edinburgh
22/09 – O2 Ritz – Manchester
23/09 – Picture Dome – Holmfirth
25/09 – HMV Empire – Coventry
26/09 – Chalk – Brighton
28/09 – O2 Academy – Bristol
29/09 – Foundry – Torquay
30/09 – O2 Forum Kentish Town – London

So here’s that Radio 2 Live at Home line-up in full!

Featuring
Classic Hyde Park sets
New sets from @SherylCrow, @nilerodgers @CHICorg @RebeccaFMusic, @CraigDavid, @erasureinfo, @RealSirTomJones, @thekillers, @johnlegend, @mcflymusic, @GregoryPorter, @ThePretendersHQ pic.twitter.com/TnRTlvMQhT

— BBC Radio 2 (@BBCRadio2) September 1, 2020

The festival will take place over the weekend of September 12/13. All the sets will be available on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer. Throughout the weekend there will also be highlights shows and compilation footage, and furthermore, special BBC Red Button content. After this, the footage will be available for another month.

On Saturday, the live hosts include Fearne Cotton and Rylan Clark-Neal. Sunday’s sets will be presented by Trevor Nelson, Sara Cox and Zoe Ball. A detailed line-up is available in the tweet below.

The UK acts will film their performances at Radio 2’s Live At Home stage which is somewhere in the British countryside. American performers will stream their sets from remote locations; rumour has it that The Killers’ set takes place on the roof of a Las Vegas hotel, and Nile Rodgers and co. will be live in Central Park, New York.  British synth pop duo Erasure will perform live from either side of the Atlantic!

In addition to new sets, the other ‘headliners’ will be compiled of some of the best previous performances from earlier years. These will be available on iPlayer in the lead up to the event. They include Elton John, The Pet Shop Boys, Take That and Kylie Minogue. BBC Radio 2 have shared a teaser clip from Elton John’s “spellbinding” 2016 set – watch it below!

“And you can tell everybody this is your song…” You can now re-live @eltonofficial‘s spellbinding Hyde Park set as part of Radio 2 Live at Home. Watch on @BBCiPlayer. Listen on @BBCSounds. pic.twitter.com/e8KMGbfsKB — BBC Radio 2 (@BBCRadio2) September 1, 2020

Speaking about Radio 2 Live at Home, Craig David says: “Whilst we can’t party in person, we can have a house party for Radio 2 Live at Home.” Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders adds that, “After months in lockdown, come rain or shine, we are so happy to be able to perform in the glorious British outdoors for Radio 2 Live at Home!”

The Head of Music for Radio 2, Jeff Smith, had this to say about the newly digital festival: “Radio 2 Live At Home will celebrate some of our favourite artists performing in the great outdoors, as well as offering the opportunity to relive some classic sets from our Festival in a Day from years gone by. Who wouldn’t want to relive Jeff Lynne’s amazement at 55,000 people singing along as ELO performed their first full set in 27 years, or Kylie’s impromptu reunion with Jason Donovan on stage for a unique performance of Especially for You.”

Despite having previously and publicly backed Hilary Clinton, RZA was realistic about how things were going to be in the future, saying to TMZ that “Trump is the President, so we’re going to have to talk to him, deal with him […] If Kanye went in to speak for our community then Bong Bong.”

When quizzed about why he’d be voting for Hilary, RZA was very open, saying that his year’s of traversing the globe had influenced his decision: “What that means for me as a world traveller is the image of our president affects us who travel around the world – it affects the worldview of us,” RZA also saw voting for Hilary to be a continuation of Obama’s good work, elaborating “So when we put in a black man as president, we kind of fulfilled what the principles of our country are: to look at us as that guiding light.”

RZA joins the growing list of musicians that have voiced their opinions on Kanye’s meeting with America’s future President. Last week, longtime friend and collaborator John Legend admitted that he was “disappointed” with Kanye’s decisions, especially following the Chicago rapper’s hospitalisation for a multitude of concerning conditions. Legend and his wife Chrissy Teigen had been very vocal in their stance against Trump in the run-up to the election, and on December 14 Legend said “I think Trump has been corrosive, his message has been corrosive to the country and I think the things he’s promised to do have been very concerning for a lot of people. And for Kanye to support that message is very disappointing…. Whatever was in his mind, I disagree with him.”

Kanye himself took to Twitter to address the controversy of his meeting with Trump at New York’s Trump Tower, saying that he personally requested the meeting, in order to discuss “multicultural issues” particularly in his home city of Chicago, as seen in the tweet below. Kanye expanded his point, saying that he thought it to be important “to have a direct line of communication with our future President if we truly want to change.” Prior to his hospitalisation, Kanye was filmed onstage saying that he hadn’t voted in the election, but that if he had, it would’ve been Trump who had got his vote.

These issues included bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculums, and violence in Chicago.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) December 13, 2016