2025

Twenty twenty-five was a year of tariffs, ceasefires that didn't quite hold and a Gen Z protest wave that toppled governments in Nepal and Madagascar. Donald Trump returned to the White House and sent global trade into a spin, the DeepSeek chatbot rattled the tech world, and Los Angeles suffered the most destructive wildfires in its history. Meanwhile, a private company finally landed on the Moon without mishap.

In rock and metal, the year leaned hard on the back catalogue. Queen alone filled the vault with Pop, Anthems, Riffs and Ballads, while Led Zeppelin offered a Live EP and Radiohead turned over Hail to the Thief: Live Recordings 2003–2009. Pearl Jam's The Last of Us arrived in May. Nine Inch Nails were the most-viewed of all, with the dark, electronic TRON: Ares soundtrack, while Deftones delivered private music and Manic Street Preachers came back with Critical Thinking. Motörhead's The Manticore Tapes and the Goo Goo Dolls' Summer Anthem rounded things out. Elsewhere, Iron Maiden set off on their 50th anniversary tour, Soundgarden were named for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Spinal Tap returned to cinemas.

The comings and goings were considerable. On 5 July, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward reunited as Black Sabbath for a final farewell show in Birmingham. Sum 41 ended their farewell tour in Toronto and Whitesnake called it a day, while Megadeth's Dave Mustaine said the next album would be the last. Mastodon parted with Brent Hinds, Katatonia with Anders Nyström, and Arch Enemy with Alissa White-Gluz. My Dying Bride and Aaron Stainthorpe separated for good. The losses were heavy too: P. Fluid of 24-7 Spyz was beaten to death, and producer Dave Jerden died in February.