The long-awaited reunion that fans have been clamouring for is here: Scissor Sisters are back and readying their first live shows in over 12 years.
2024 marks the 20 year anniversary of the band’s debut album ‘Scissor Sisters’, one of the UK’s 40 best-sellers of all time, and to celebrate this, the era-defining pop disruptors – lead singer Jake Shears plus multi-instrumentalist Babydaddy and guitarist Del Marquis – will fill the UK’s arenas next May with their signature mix of showmanship, songcraft and galvanising queer energy.
The album ‘Scissor Sisters’ was the best-selling album in the UK of 2004, selling over 3 million copies globally (a staggering 2 million of these were UK sales). Ranked as the 20th biggest-selling album of the 21st century in the UK and the 35th biggest-selling album of all time, the album went 9 x Platinum in the UK, and won three BRIT Awards in 2005, including Best International Album, Best International Group and Best International Breakthrough Act, making Scissor Sisters the first act ever to win all three international categories.
The band are already batting around setlist ideas but plan to perform every single track from the album on the tour. They will also cherry-pick highlights from their three subsequent albums, 2006’s Ta-Dah, 2010’s Night Work and 2012’s Magic Hour, which contain some of the band’s biggest hits and most cherished fan favourites.
Jake says: “It’s the 20th anniversary of our debut album, so it really feels like the right time to revisit all the intense excitement of that moment. I think the impetus for this reunion was really a YouTube screening of Scissor Sisters: Live at The O2 that happened during lockdown. I don’t think I’d seen that show since it was filmed in 2007, but we were all kind of surprised by how great it was. And chatting with fans during the screening really brought back what a special moment it was for all of us.”
Babydaddy adds: “There’s something really special about us being a gay band, a queer band, who really pushed into the mainstream with that album. We want to revisit that because there weren’t as many queer acts breaking through in that way 20 years ago. We do acknowledge that we did something pretty unique back then just by putting ourselves out there as queer people. We put queer culture in the mainstream at a time when there wasn’t much of it there.”
Del says: ” There will always be a little bit of anarchy and chaos in our live shows. That’s the magic ingredient of the Scissor Sisters, and we’re definitely going to bring that ‘anything can happen’ energy back again. This time I want to be really present on stage and celebrate how lucky we are to have achieved what we achieved. I don’t think I was mature enough to deal with everything the first time around because it happened so fast.”
The Scissor Sisters 2025 live experience will have a different dynamic as singer Ana Matronic has decided not to join the tour as she has other projects she is focusing on right now. “The 20th anniversary only happens once and now has to be the time for us to celebrate that album”, says Babydaddy.
“We’ve spent a lot of time collectively thinking about what we can add to our show that isn’t a ‘replacement’ for Ana in any way,” Del says. “She’s part of the spirit of this band and we want to honour that.” For Jake, reconvening as a trio adds to the “fun challenge” of working out what their live show looks and feels like after 12 years away. “The way I see it is this,” he adds, “If it’s gonna be different, why not make it an interesting kind of different?”
Tickets will go on pre-sale on Wednesday 6th November at 10am, with the general on sale Friday 8th November at 10am, all via www.scissorsisters.com.
The arena tour dates announced today are:
FRI 16 MAY 2025 NOTTINGHAM, MOTORPOINT ARENA
SAT 17 MAY 2025 GLASGOW, OVO HYDRO
MON 19 MAY 2025 BOURNEMOUTH, INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
TUE 20 MAY 2025 CARDIFF, UTILITA ARENA
WED 21 MAY 2025 MANCHESTER, CO-OP LIVE
FRI 23 MAY 2025 LONDON, THE 02
SAT 24 MAY 2025 LEEDS, FIRST DIRECT ARENA
SUN 25 MAY 2025 BIRMINGHAM, UTILITA ARENA
TUE 27 MAY 2025 BELFAST, SSE ARENA
WED 28 MAY 2025 DUBLIN, 3ARENA
WITH SUPPORT FROM VERY SPECIAL GUEST ALISON GOLDFRAPP
The album, ‘Scissor Sisters’ will be reissued on vinyl on 22nd November with a deluxe expanded edition to follow next year. Fans can expect B-sides, remixes and unheard rarities alongside the original 11-track LP.
Scissor Sisters burst onto the scene in the early 2000s with a colourful, boundary-pushing style that blended glam rock, pop, and disco, breaking down barriers in LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream music. Released in February 2004, the group’s debut album achieved the biggest selling week one of any international artist in the last 20 years. It spawned five irresistible singles: the funky strut of Laura, Elton-esquecoming out anthem Take Your Mama, life-affirming ballad Mary, horny club banger Filthy/Gorgeous and an audacious disco cover of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. In a way, the album’s jubilant fusion of rollicking pop, gleaming glam rock, classic balladry and subtly subversive club tunes reflects the fact that Scissor Sisters started out as musical outsiders.
Though they emerged from New York’s hyper-creative queer underground, the band were embraced most vehemently of all in the UK. In 2004 Jake and Babydaddy collaborated with pop royalty when they co-wrote and produced Kylie Minogue’s shimmering disco gem I Believe in You, a UK No.2 hit that was nominated for a Grammy award. In January 2004, Scissor Sisters made their UK live debut at a sweaty Soho club night; by June, they were playing Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage. In 2005, they cemented their incredible rise by winning three BRIT Awards and performing Take Your Mama at the ceremony with eye-popping puppets created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Their unforgettable performances at Coachella, and V Festival truly cemented their status as one of the most exciting live acts of the early 2000s. In 2005, they performed at ‘Live 8 London in Hyde Park, supporting MAKEpovertyHISTORY. The band has also headlined iconic venues like Wembley Arena and the London O2, completing five international sell-out tours. In 2005 they were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for Comfortably Numb.
The Ta-Dah album stormed straight to the top of the charts in 2006 after spawning the No.1 single I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’, a dazzling disco bop co-written with the band’s idol Elton John. Ta-Dah also featured the deliciously off-kilter stomper I Can’t Decide, which has gone on to become one of the band’s most streamed songs despite never being released as a single. Ta-Dah was followed in time by Night Work, a harder dance-rock record spearheaded by the strident single Fire with Fire. Since its release, the album has become a cult queer classic thanks to its heady celebration of club culture’s potential for personal, political and sexual liberation. Magic Hour was a kaleidoscopic pop album that yielded the sleek house single Only the Horses, which was co-produced by Calvin Harris, and the drag-inspired banger Let’s Have a Kiki. The latter remains a staple at gay bars and Pride parties, and the band are especially excited to be returning in an era where more queer artists are breakout stars.
