The beloved Australian singer-songwriter hits the road with a Springsteen-inspired anthem celebrating life's chaos and charm.
Ella Hooper is kicking off 2026 in style, announcing her Summer Tour ’26 alongside the release of her latest single “Growing Up Is Hard To Do” — a heartland rock anthem that channels pure Bruce Springsteen energy.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
The tour launches Saturday 10 January in Mansfield before winding through Tamworth, Sale, Archies Creek, Newcastle, Mangrove Mountain, Bathurst, Boyup Brook, Ocean Grove and Balnarring Beach. Festival appearances at Queenscliff Music Festival, Boyup Brook Music Muster, Music In The Vines, Americana on the Bellarine, and Tamworth Country Music Festival are also on the cards.
“Closing the year with a new single feels very me and very cheeky,” Ella laughs. “I know it’s going to go off live at the summer tour shows and festivals like Queenscliff too. The band are hanging to get their teeth into the single live.”
“Growing Up Is Hard To Do” arrives as a toe-tapping celebration of self-reflection, complete with a sax solo tipping its cap to Clarence Clemons and a tom-tom breakdown worthy of The Boss himself. Produced by Ella alongside Australian-born, Nashville-based Sam Hawskley and ARIA-nominated Jeremy Dylan, the track features Nashville’s Fred Eltringham, Tom Bukovac and Rachel Loy, plus Melbourne’s Mika Kohlman on saxophone.
“This song comes from a period of self-reflection that kinda started with Small Town Temple,” Ella explains. “Some days I can roll my eyes at the chaos of the last few years, or my whole life actually…it’s certainly been a hell of a ride. And as they say, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry!”
Fresh from Killing Heidi’s sold-out Reflector 25th anniversary tour and a career-spanning journey that includes four ARIA Awards and becoming the youngest-ever APRA Songwriter of the Year, Ella shows no signs of slowing down. Her 2023 album Small Town Temple debuted at #1 on the Australian Country chart, cementing her evolution from a ’90s rock icon to a country-Americana powerhouse.
Currently splitting her time between Nashville and Melbourne, Ella’s new material captures the high-octane energy that’s made her live shows legendary for their positivity, warmth and exuberance.
Tickets for Ella Hooper’s Summer Tour ’26 are on sale now here.
