The soul-rockers achieved worldwide success before surprising everyone by deciding to quit while they were ahead. Now they\u2019re back with a new album railing against the state of contemporary America<\/p>\n
In the autumn of 2024, Alabama Shakes showed no sign of ending their indefinite hiatus \u2013 and nobody was asking them to. Seven years had passed since the blues-soul-rock band, who exploded out of Athens, Alabama in 2009, had last shared a stage. Their transatlantic Top 10 2012 debut Boys & Girls announced them; the million-selling 2015 follow-up Sound & Color went to No 1 in the US and won them four Grammys. Their fanbase included Bruce Springsteen, Robert Plant and Barack Obama. But by 2017 they were physically and creatively spent, and they stopped. Then, in December 2024, with almost no warning, they played their first show in more than seven years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a friend in Tuscaloosa who had a brewery, but it wasn\u2019t doing so well after Covid,\u201d explains singer Brittany Howard. \u201cHe called me and said he was going to do a fundraiser and asked if I\u2019d like to perform. I said, \u2018For sure.\u2019\u201d But then she started reminiscing, remembering how that particular friend had been a huge help to the band, not just her personally. She felt the band owed him something, collectively. \u201cSo I called the fellas,\u201d she smiles. \u201c\u2018Do y\u2019all wanna perform at this thing \u2013 like, all of us, together?\u2019 And they instantly said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/bdde24be3c119ffd94319e32b3e45b5a53d919ac\/0_435_2637_2109\/master\/2637.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=ecf823adf2211440a7bd9a29523e23ce\" "\\"\u2018We")
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