As Good Charlotte gear up for a world tour, which will include a trip to Australia next year, frontman Joel Madden has reflected on his time in the country, which he calls “home away from home”.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ revealed last week that the legendary pop punk outfit will return to Australia in 2026 in support of their newly-released album, Motel Du Cap. But Madden is no stranger here. The US songwriter spent months at a time in the country when he served as a solo judge on The Voice from 2012-2014, and then as a duo with brother Benji from 2015-2016.
Speaking to Rolling Stone AU/NZ in support of the new record, Madden recalled spending “months at a time” in Sydney while filming the singing competition.
“My best friend actually lives near Bondi in Sydney, and I stayed at his house for most of that after I got in trouble at a hotel one time for some weed or something,” he laughed.
“Thank God I didn’t get kicked off the show! It wasn’t my weed though. That’s the truth. Also, who cares?”
Madden said he loved doing The Voice and a large reason why he kept doing it was because of his love for the country.
“I’ve always felt like Australia was a home away from home, and I’ve always gotten along with Australians,” he said.
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“It’s so weird. I don’t know what it is, but like all my friends are Australian… Australians are all so talented and will literally not own up to it.”
During his chat with Rolling Stone AU/NZ, Madden revealed that Good Charlotte intend to tour arenas throughout Australia in early 2026.
“We were trying to surprise dates this year, but it’s been too hard with something with the venues or something,” Madden revealed.
“I don’t know. It’s been too hard to get dates, whatever the complications have been this year, because we wanted to drop [the dates] around when the record comes. I think it’ll be arena shows, so it’s harder to move those things around. So I think we’re gonna come as quickly as we can at the top of ’26.”
Read the full interview with Madden here.
