The Waterboys have announced their new album ‘Life, Death And Dennis Hopper’ featuring the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple and more.
The folk-rock group are set to release their 16th studio album on April 4 via Sun Records. According to a press release, ‘Life, Death And Dennis Hopper’ will tell the story of the late American actor and rebel – Dennis Hopper – through a song cycle that depicts both Hopper’s story and the past 75 years of Western pop culture.
The first taster of the album will come in the form of the lead single ‘Hopper’s On Top (Genius)’ which is set for release this Friday (December 10).
Speaking about the LP in a press release, The Waterboys frontman Mike Scott shared: “The arc of his life was the story of our times. He was at the big bang of youth culture in Rebel Without A Cause with James Dean; and the beginnings of Pop Art with the young Andy Warhol.
“He was part of the counter-culture, hippie, civil rights and psychedelic scenes of the ’60s. In the ’70s and ’80s he went on a wild 10-year rip, almost died, came back, got straight and became a five-movies-a-year character actor without losing the sparkle in his eye or the sense of danger or unpredictability that always gathered around him.”
Produced by Scott and his bandmates James Hallawell and Brother Paul Brown, the album is comprised of 25 tracks that follow the arc of Hopper’s life kicking off from the actor’s youth in Kansas to his long rise, five wives, tumultuous fall, and ultimate redemption.
Along with Springsteen and Apple, other artists who are featured on the LP include Steve Earle, Nashville-based Alt Americana artist Anana Kaye, Barny Fletcher, Sugarfoot, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go‘s and Patti Palladin.
“It begins in his childhood, ends the morning after his death, and I get to say a whole lot along the way, not just about Dennis, but about the whole strange adventure of being a human soul on planet earth,” Scott explained in a press release.
The Waterboys’ ‘Life, Death And Dennis Hopper’ tracklist is:
1. ‘Kansas’ (featuring Steve Earle)
2. ‘Hollywood’55’
3. ‘Live In The Moment, Baby’
4. ‘Brooke / 1712 North Crescent Heights’
5. ‘Andy (A Guy Like You)’
6. ‘The Tourist’ (featuring Barny Fletcher)
7. ‘Freaks On Wheels’
8. ‘Blues For Terry Southern’
9. ‘Memories Of Monterey’
10. ‘Riding Down To Mardi Gras’
11. ‘Hopper’s On Top (Genius)’
12. ‘Transcendental Peruvian Blues’
13. ‘Michelle (Always Stay)’
14. ‘Freakout At The Mud Palace’
15. ‘Daria’
16. ‘Ten Years Gone’ (featuring Bruce Springsteen)
17. ‘Letter From An Unknown Girlfriend’ (featuring Fiona Apple)
18. ‘Rock Bottom’
19. ‘I Don’t Know How I Made It’ (featuring Taylor Goldsmith)
20. ‘Frank’ (Let’s Fu*k)
21. ‘Katherine’ (featuring Anana Kaye)
22. ‘Everybody Loves Dennis Hopper’
23. ‘Golf, They Say’
24. ‘Venice, California (Victoria)/The Passing Of Hopper’
25. ‘Aftermath’
In other news, The Waterboys recently announced a UK headline tour set to kick off later this spring. Scott and co. are set to kick off the tour in Basingstoke on May 1 followed by stops in Bath, Nottingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester and other locations throughout the month.
The Waterboys’ 2025 tour will conclude with a performance at the Roundhouse in Camden Town, London on May 31. Visit here to purchase tickets and check out a full list of dates below.
The Waterboys’ 2025 UK tour dates are:
MAY
1 – Basingstoke, Anvil
2 – Bath, Forum
3 – Bexhill, Dlwp
5 – Brighton, Centre
7 – Nottingham, Rock City
8 – Liverpool, Philharmonic
9 – Sheffield, City Hall
10 – Gateshead, Glasshouse
12 – Blackpool, Opera House
13 – Manchester, Bridgewater Hall
15 – York, Barbican
16 – Birmingham, Symphony Hall
18 – Bournemouth, Pavilion
19 – Cardiff, New Theatre
20 – Cambridge, Corn Exchange
22 – Bristol, Beacon
23 – Oxford, New Theatre
24 – Stockton-on-Tees, The Globe
25 – Llandudno, Venue Cymru
27 – Guildford, Live
28 – Leicester, De Montford Hall
31 – London, Roundhouse
The Waterboys released their latest album ‘All Souls Hill’ in 2022. In 2023, the band dropped a box set titled ‘1985’, which tells the story of the making of their landmark third record ‘This Is the Sea’. Last March, former Waterboys member Karl Wallinger died at the age of 66.