Have you heard? Mike Ness, singer / guitarist of the legendary SoCal punk band Social Distortion says they’ll have a new studio album ready by next spring!
Ness revealed the news during a backstage conversation with Kevin Ryder at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2025 on December 13 at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum. When asked if the album would arrive in early 2026, Ness answered simply: “May.” In a separate social media post, he added that the LP’s first single is slated to arrive next month.
The chat also offered you an update on Ness’s health. Diagnosed with tonsil cancer in June 2023, he opened up about the challenges he faced: “I was afraid I was gonna not gonna live. I’ve been through some hard things in my life in some dangerous situations, as you can imagine, but nothing like that.”
Ness described his gruelling recovery, including learning to eat and swallow again after surgery: “They went in there, they sent a robot. I call him Ike, the robot. He went down and cut out my tonsil and the tumor. And then the second part of the surgery was, they slit my neck and cut the lymph nodes out. So I could not eat food. I mean, I came out of surgery with a drain and a feeding tube.”
Asked if he had to relearn singing, Ness said: “My voice is stronger than it’s ever been. I think I’m singing like there’s no tomorrow. So every show is great because I’m singing like there’s no tomorrow.”
Ness founded Social Distortion as a teenager in Fullerton, California, in 1979. The band’s early years were marked by drug and alcohol struggles, stints in jail and rehab, and the raw energy of rebellious youth. Over time, the band forged a signature sound blending outlaw country, seventies punk, and primal blues, producing seven studio albums and anthems such as “Story of My Life,” “Ball and Chain,” and “Prison Bound.”
The band’s last album, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes (2011), peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. In 2019, Social Distortion celebrated 40 years of electrifying music and a devoted global fanbase.
Damn. Who would’ve called a new Social Distortion album in 2026?
