Some career achievements in rock music are so impressive but find themselves overlooked because they are not to be believed. For legendary rockers ZEBRA, they hold one of those distinctions that the average listener might not be aware of. ZEBRA is the longest-running American band still touring with all its original members. Comprised of Randy Jackson, Felix Hanemann and Guy Gelso and formed in New Orleans in 1975, these original bandmembers have performed together every year for the last 50 years. 2025 will continue that trend as the band is heading out on their “Zebra 50 – 2025 Anniversary Tour”. New dates have been added to the band’s previously announced performances in celebration of 50 years of performing together live. More dates will be announced in the future. Information on all shows including ticket links and access to VIP experiences can be found on the band’s official web site at zebraband.com.
“Zebra 50 – 2025 Anniversary Tour” dates:
Mar. 14 – Lafayette, LA – Rock N Bowl *
Mar. 15 – Lake Charles, LA – Bulber Auditorium *
Apr. 25 – Austin, TX – 3Ten Austin City Limits *
Apr. 26 – Houston, TX – House of Blues *
Apr. 27 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues *
May 17 – Westbury, NY – Westbury Music Fair *
Jun. 26 – Fairfield, CT – Studio One at FTC
Jun. 27 – Carteret, NJ – Carteret PAC
Jun. 28 – Fredrick, MD – Weinberg Center for the Arts
Jun. 29 – Hopewell, VA – The Beacon Theatre
Sep. 20 – Las Vegas, NV – [to be announced]
Sep. 21 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
Oct. 09 – Philadelphia, PA – City Winery
Oct. 10 – Montgomery, NY – City Winery
Oct. 11 – Boston, MA – City Winery
Nov. 26 – New Orleans, LA – Orpheum Theatre
* Previously announced date
To commemorate its 50th anniversary, ZEBRA has been in the studio working on the follow up to 2003’s “Zebra IV” — the last album the band released. The guys have reunited with legendary producer Jack Douglas (AEROSMITH, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, CHEAP TRICK, NEW YORK DOLLS) who also produced the band’s first two — and most successful — albums. The band plans to announce the first single this spring, and more information on the band’s upcoming release will be available in the future.
Last December, Jackson told Newsday about ZEBRA‘s upcoming LP: “The record will feature a variety of songs. We got some stuff from 1977 we never recorded, songs I penned with other people and a bunch of tunes that I wrote recently. It’s evolving as we’re doing it.”
ZEBRA‘s new album, which is being recorded at Jackson and Gelso‘s home studios, will feature 12 tracks helmed by Douglas.
“We are looking forward to collaborating with Jack again,” Jackson told Newsday. “This is the first time we worked on ZEBRA stuff since 1984 [Douglas produced the band’s 1983 self-titled debut and 1984 sophomore effort, ‘No Tellin’ Lies’]. We’re going to see what he’s learned and what we’ve learned over the last 40 years.”
In 2023, ZEBRA celebrated the 40th anniversary of its debut album by playing the entire album in order and continued doing some more of these special shows in new cities during its 2024 tour.
ZEBRA has also been working on a new documentary that will feature new interviews and performance clips from the recent tour “plus a lot more” about the band’s history. The documentary, tentatively titled “Tell Me What You Want: 50 Years Of Zebra”, will feature never-before-seen footage from the band’s birth in Louisiana, to spreading new roots and reaching legendary status in Long Island, New York.
ZEBRA galloped out of New Orleans in early 1975. The trio, consisting of Jackson, Hanemann and Gelso, concocted their moniker from a 1926 Vogue magazine cover and soon won over the South and East Coast.
ZEBRA‘s self-titled debut album, released on March 21, 1983, went gold, and at that time was the fastest-selling debut album in Atlantic Records history, thanks to the radio and MTV airplay of “Tell Me What You Want” and “Who’s Behind The Door?”
ZEBRA‘s live performances showcase all the band’s classic tunes, and recently included the debut album in order for the first time.
In 2010 ZEBRA was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame and is acknowledged as Louisiana’s No. 1 rock and roll band by the Louisiana Music Commission. On October 18, 2012 ZEBRA was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall Of Fame.
Photo credit: courtesy of ZEBRA
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