Angry Anderson says Rose Tattoo have so many new songs that their “Hard Road” cover may not fit on their final studio album.
Rose Tattoo will play their last show on New Year’s Eve, exactly 50 years after the band came together on New Year’s Eve 1976. Before that happens, they are trying to finish one more record, and the problem is not a shortage of songs.
Gary “Angry” Anderson told Nejc Zupančič of “PodRaznoKast” that the album is planned for late 2026 or early 2027. Asked whether the band’s cover of Stevie Wright‘s “Hard Road“, released in February 2025, would be included, the 79-year-old singer started out sounding certain.
“Yeah. It was another Stevie Wright song. And we were rehearsing it to go in the set because another song we play, ‘Black Eyed Bruiser‘, that was a Stevie Wright song [that Rose Tattoo covered on 2007’s Blood Brothers album]. So I think [‘Hard Road‘] will go on the album. I think there’ll be maybe a re-record or a remix,” he replied (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
The track was never meant to be a single at all. It came out of rehearsals and was pushed out because it sounded better than anyone expected.
“When we first did it, it turned out so good that our manager, he said that we’ll put it out as a promotional tool,” Anderson explained. “Because we had a big year, which was last year. We had a big year of gigs coming up, so we released it as a promotional [tool]. But it was so popular at home [in Australia], and it’s pretty popular [in Europe], too.”
Then he reversed himself: [But] we have so many new songs [to choose from], it might be hard to get it on the album. So maybe not. Maybe not.”
That surplus is not new. When Anderson first revealed the retirement plan on Melbourne’s “3AW” in April 2025, he said the band wanted to mark the 50th anniversary with an album and expected to carry on writing beyond it, because the current lineup was on fire. Rose Tattoo‘s last release was 2020’s Outlaws, so the new record would be their first in six years and the only one their farewell audience will hear.
Wright fronted The Easybeats and died in December 2015. “Hard Road” came from his 1974 solo work, and “Black Eyed Bruiser” followed in 1975 before Rose Tattoo claimed it for Blood Brothers.
The touring end of it is what Anderson finds harder to talk about. The band confirmed in July that 2026 would be their final year on the road, and the European leg now under way is their last.
“It’s very emotional. For many, many years we enjoyed the privilege and we enjoyed the opportunity to tour through Europe, and we’ve toured through Europe many, many times. And we’ve always been very grateful for the opportunity because we’re one of the… There’s only a handful of Australian bands that have related, in a sense, to Europe. Apart from the big, big bands like AC/DC, Airbourne and other bands, there’s only a small handful of bands that have been able to come back many years, year after year. And so now that that’s coming to an end, it’s gotta be a large part of our year is gonna be not there anymore. But we’re retiring the band in Australia entirely. We’ve got some dates in America next year [2027], because we couldn’t fit them in this year. So that will be definitely be our last dates in America. And this [current tour] is, of course, our last run here in Europe,” Anderson said.
Asked to share his final message with Rose Tattoo fans around the world, Anderson said: “We’ve got our last dates, of course, in Australia. But this European run, for me personally — I know the other boys feel it too, but I’m the only original member, so, obviously I’m the only one left from the very beginning… So yes, it’s very emotional. But I have said to other journalists that the thing I think the most thing, apart from gratitude, my message is that rock and roll never grows old. And rock and roll, I truly believe, was sent to save our soul, because it saved my soul when I was very young, and I had a very troubled childhood. And when I discovered rock and roll, it helped me deal with life. It was something to hang on to. And then within a very few years, I was writing and I was singing in a band, and that saved my life. So that’s the message I want to leave as a legacy, is that believe in rock and roll. Rock and roll can save your soul.”
Anderson now fronts a lineup of Mick Arnold, Steve “Kingy” King and Paul Demarco, with former guitarist Rob Riley returning for selected farewell shows to revisit material from 1982’s Scarred For Life.
Formed in Sydney, Rose Tattoo built their reputation on “Bad Boy For Love“, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Outlaw“, “Nice Boys” and “We Can’t Be Beaten“, supported Aerosmith and ZZ Top in the United States, and entered the ARIA Hall Of Fame in 2006.
