Courteeners Announce Best Of Album God Bless The Band and 2026 UK Tour

Courteeners are marking their 20th anniversary with the announcement of their first greatest hits compilation, God Bless The Band. The collection is scheduled for release on August 28, 2026, via Ignition Music.

The announcement arrived on April 9, 2026, alongside the release of a new reflective single titled The Luckiest Man Alive. The album’s title is derived from a lyric in the band’s well-known track Not Nineteen Forever.

The compilation will feature a curated selection of tracks spanning the band’s career, from their 2008 debut St Jude through to their 2024 release Pink Cactus Café. In addition to the career retrospective, the album includes two new songs: The Luckiest Man Alive and Plus One Forever. Both new tracks were produced by frontman Liam Fray and James Skelly of The Coral.

Career Context and Release Details

Liam Fray noted that the timing for a best-of collection felt appropriate as the band approaches 20 years since their first gig in October. The band has achieved significant commercial success in the UK, selling over 1 million albums, with their last four records all charting in the top five.

The standard edition of God Bless The Band includes material from seven albums: St. Jude (2008), Falcon (2010), Anna (2013), Concrete Love (2014), Mapping the Rendezvous (2016), More. Again. Forever. (2020), and Pink Cactus Café (2024).

The album will be available in several formats, including heavyweight black double LP, retail-exclusive clear double LP, and CD. A deluxe version featuring 11 additional tracks will be sold exclusively through the Courteeners’ official store.

Touring and Grassroots Support

To launch the project, the band will perform an intimate gig at Manchester’s Night & Day Café on April 11, 2026. This coincides with Record Store Day 2026, during which the band is also releasing a vinyl version of their Live In Manchester album, recorded at their 2024 Co-Op Live show.

Courteeners have also announced a UK arena tour for November 2026. As part of a levy programme to support grassroots artists and venues, the band will donate £1 plus VAT from every ticket sold to the newly launched LIVE Trust.

This donation will directly benefit the full grassroots ecosystem – from venues and artists to promoters and festivals – helping to protect, expand and support grassroots music across the UK.

Jon Collins, CEO of the LIVE Trust

The November tour dates are as follows:

• November 6: Leeds, First Direct Arena
• November 7: Cardiff, Utilita Arena
• November 13: Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena
• November 14: London, Alexandra Palace
• November 20: Glasgow, OVO Hydro
• November 21: Birmingham, Utilita Arena

Pre-sale tickets for the arena tour go on sale April 15, 2026, with general sales beginning April 17, 2026. These dates follow other scheduled performances in July and August in Stoke-On-Trent and Leicester, as well as headlining appearances at Tramlines in Sheffield and a sold-out homecoming show at Wythenshawe Park in Manchester on August 28.

Track Listing

The standard track list for God Bless The Band consists of:

• Are You In Love With A Notion?
• Cavorting
• Acrylic
• You Overdid It Doll
• Pink Cactus Café
• Summer
• Take Over The World
• Bide Your Time
• Small Bones
• The 17th
• Fallowfield Hillbilly
• That Kiss
• Lose Control
• Modern Love
• Sycophant
• Hanging Off Your Cloud
• The Luckiest Man Alive
• What Took You So Long?
• Not Nineteen Forever
• Plus One Forever

The deluxe edition adds the following tracks:

• Sweet Surrender
• Chipping Away
• Smiths Disco
• Sunflower
• Winter Wonderland
• The Rest Of The World Has Gone Home
• International (Acoustic)
• Beautiful Head
• More. Again. Forever.
• 20th Century Boy / Cigarettes & Alcohol (BBC Radio 2 Session – Live at Glastonbury)
• Here Come The Young Men