Refused have announced that they are breaking up, but not before playing one final North American tour in early 2025. In addition, the Swedish hardcore legends are releasing a deluxe 25th anniversary edition of their seminal album The Shape of Punk to Come.
The tour, which features support from Quicksand, kicks off March 21st in Brooklyn, New York, and runs through an April 10th show in Sacramento, California. The outing will hit such cities as Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, and Seattle along the way.
A Live Nation pre-sale for select shows begins Thursday (September 12th) at 10 a.m. local time using the code SETLIST, with a general on-sale starting Friday (September 13th) at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster. Fans can also look for deals or get tickets to sold-out dates via StubHub, where your purchase is 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s Fan Protect program.
It’s not the first time Refused have broken up, having been inactive from 1998 to 2012. However, this time it appears it will be permanent, with the tour dubbed, “Refused Are F**king Dead … And This Time They Really Mean It.”
News of the breakup and tour comes a few months after Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzén suffered a massive heart attack. Thankfully, the singer appears to be on the mend, as reported in a lengthy statement from Refused drummer David Sandström that reads in part:
“We were supposed to do this in June. Roll out our modest farewell run, starting with the Rosendal Garden Party in Stockholm and then doing a few shows here and there before calling it quits end of year. The rehearsals had been magnificent, the vibe was great and two days before the show we played a secret show at Kulturhuset Femman in Uppsala. There were no pictures taken and it wasn’t filmed but it was a great show in front of maybe 60 local scenesters. We hung out afterwards, I had a few beers and me and Dennis, still vegan and basically straight edge, traded stupid stories about bands we love. It was a fine evening. Next morning I get a call from Dennis’ wife and a couple of tumultuous hours later it’s confirmed that he’s had a heart attack at the hotel.”
After summarizing the history of the band, Sandström continued:
“So on to the good news: Dennis is doing great. He’s one of the healthiest dudes I know, he can’t sit still, exercises a lot and it follows that his recuperation would be swift. He’s gotten excellent care and his doctor has run all the physical tests on him and they all indicate he’s making a full recovery. Needless to say, he’s itching to get back on tour to play shows and he even suggested we should keep preliminary dates set up for the late fall and winter, but we decided to postpone those shows and instead start up in the spring. So yeah, that’s where we’re at. We’re coming to the US in March/April 2025 and we’re looking at what else we can do with the rest of the year, all we know is that we want to finish back home in Sweden at the end of the year. Let us know if there are songs you want us to play and we’ll give them a shot. Hope to see you out there.”
As previously mentioned, the band is also reissuing its classic 1998 album The Shape of Punk to Come. In addition to containing rarities and demos, the box set will include a disc called The Shape of Punk to Come Obliterated, featuring other bands covering the songs on the album. Among those acts are Quicksand, Idles, Ho99o9, and Touché Amoré.
See the tour dates, the tracklist for The Shape of Punk to Come Obliterated covers disc, and drummer David Sandström’s full statement below. Pre-order the 25th anniversary edition and see the full tracklist of The Shape of Punk to Come 5LP box set at this location.
Refused 2025 Tour Dates:
03/21 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
03/23 – Toronto, ON @ HISTORY
03/25 – Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed
03/27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
03/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall
03/29 – Del Mar, CA @ The Sound
03/30 – Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
04/01 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
04/02 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Union Event Center
04/04 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
04/05 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
04/07 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
04/08 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
04/10 – Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades
The Shape of Punk to Come 25th Anniversary Box Set:
The Shape Of Punk To Come Obliterated Tracklist:
01. Gel – Worms Of The Senses / Faculties Of The Skull
02. Quicksand – The Liberation Frequency
03. Brutus – The Deadly Rhythm
04. Snapcase – Summer Holidays Vs. Punkroutine
05. Idles – New Noise (remix)
06. Ho99o9 – New Noise
07. Fucked Up – Refused Party Program
08. Zulu – Protest Song ’68
09. Cold Cave – Refused Are Fucking Dead
10. IGORR – The Shape of Punk to Come
11. Cult of Luna – Tannhäuser / Derive
12. Touche Amore – The Apollo Programme Was a Hoax