Stereophonics are the little indie band that could.
Emerging in the early-1990s from Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley, an old mining town in South Wales, and led by Kelly Jones, Stereophonics found their lane at a time when electronic dance music and alternative rock were dueling it out.
The critics never came along for the ride, but the fans sure did. In masses, numbers that may well be growing.
Earlier in 2025, Stereophonics bagged a ninth UK No. 1 album with Make. ’em Laugh, Make ’em Cry, Make ’em Wait. That chart result eclipses Oasis. Only a handful of British bands have a better track record, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Queen and Coldplay among them.
Blockbuster records are “not the incentive by such a long way,” Kelly tells Rolling Stone AU/NZ. “It’s a privilege to be in that company for sure. But what is important to me is the music stands the test of time and the audience being in front of the band. Accolades and awards and stuff like there, once you’ve seen behind the curtain of a few of these things, they’re less and less and less and less and less important in my world.”
Along the way, the band’s sound evolved. An unexpected high came with the Best British Breakthrough Act at the 1998 BRIT Awards and the No. 1 single, “Dakota,” which dropped in 2005. The lineup changed, while Kelly and founding bass player Richard Jones (no relation) are mainstays. The Jones lads also experienced a devastating low when childhood friend and founding drummer Stuart Cable died unexpectedly, 15 years ago this month.
“All we’ve ever tried to do is make each album sound slightly new and different for ourselves each time we make a record,” Kelly explains. “We’ve never been reliant on some big album in the ’90s,” he continues. “We’ve always had big songs on each record, so that’s carried us through three decades of audiences. All we were focused on really is catalogue and the music and thankfully we all get on, we’re good mates, we all like hanging out with each other. So that makes things a bit easier as well.”
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A sizeable fanbase can make life easier, too. On this current global tour, Stereophonics will play to over 600,000 people, including headline stadium, arena and festival appearances.
Audiences will be lining up for Stereophonics’ Australia Spring Tour 2025, produced by Live Nation and which expands with a newly-added show Friday, October 24th at Fremantle Prison.
Thanks to digital media, Stereophonics “is a bit like a revolving door, really,” Kelly reckons. “There’s always new people finding the band and discovering us. Our audience has always varying from 15-year-old kids to people who have followed the band since 1996.”
Expect a firehose of hits when Stereophonics perform in Australia, their first trek here since 2019, with “Dakota”, “Have A Nice Day”, “Maybe Tomorrow”, “C’est La Vie”, “A Thousand Trees”, and more.
“I find that audiences all over the world are pretty enthusiastic now because they’ve got access to the catalogue and it makes it a little more freeing to go through 13 albums to pick and choose songs because you know people can just find them,” Kelly notes.
“There were years and years and years where you’d be playing a gig and there’d be a record shop across the street and your record wouldn’t even be on the shelf. Just bad distribution or whatever the deal was in different countries.”
Not anymore.
On those Australia shows, Kelly and co. will deliver “two hours of escape.” The rockers “want to give people a good time. It’s going to be a good night out and people are going to go away singing and feeling better than they did coming in there. And that’s the whole point, really.”
Although he’s gone, Cable is not forgotten. “He’s remembered every night on stage,” Kelly says. “You know, we play those songs and he’s in those songs.”
Stereophonics 2025 Australian Tour
Tickets on sale Thursday, June 19th, 12pm (local)
For complete tour and ticket information, visit: livenation.com.au
Friday, October 17th
Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Saturday, October 18th
Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane
Monday, October 20th
Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Friday, October 24th *
Fremantle Prison, Fremantle
Saturday, October 25th
Fremantle Prison, Fremantle
