On January 23, 2026, The Damned will release Not Like Everybody Else, a personal and celebratory covers album dedicated to founding guitarist Brian James, who passed away on March 6, 2025. The record was tracked in five intense days at Revolver Studio in Los Angeles, capturing a mix of emotion and creative urgency. On the album, The Damned — Dave Vanian on vocals, Captain Sensible on guitar, Rat Scabies on drums, Paul Gray on bass, and longtime keyboardist Monty Oxymoron — reconnect with the energy that defined their earliest days. Not Like Everybody Else also marks the first time in 40 years that Rat Scabies has returned to the studio with the band.
The album opens with R. Dean Taylor’s “There’s A Ghost In My House” before moving into interpretations of classics such as Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” and The Animals’ “When I Was Young.” It closes with a striking farewell: The Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time,” featuring Brian James himself. The performance comes from his final live appearance with The Damned at Hammersmith and has been newly remixed for this release.
To commemorate the album, The Damned will deliver a one-off covers show at Albert Hall in Manchester on January 28, 2026. The band will perform songs from Not Like Everybody Else alongside familiar covers that have shaped their career. The night is intended as a tribute to Brian James and the band’s shared history.
The second video and single, “See Emily Play,” is available to stream now. Sung by The Damned guitarist Captain Sensible, the track merges the band’s recognizable punk edge with the psychedelic character of the original.
Timed to align with The Damned’s 50th-anniversary celebrations, Not Like Everybody Else serves both as an homage and as a reflection of the resilience of one of punk’s most influential groups.
Fifty years of The Damned also marks five decades of punk itself, as the explosion of 1976 reaches its half-century milestone. The band helped spark the movement with the release of the first U.K. punk single, “New Rose”, and their debut album, Damned, Damned, Damned. Brian James wrote the first single and served as the primary songwriter on the album before leaving the group after their second record, Music For Pleasure, in 1977.
Over the years, the band built an ever-growing following through high-energy live shows, darkly thematic lyrics, and Dave Vanian’s distinctive baritone, which helped place them at the forefront of the emerging goth-rock scene.
The Damned have also confirmed a special 50th-anniversary show at OVO Arena Wembley on Saturday, April 11, 2026, honoring their five decades as one of the foundational forces in British punk rock. The celebration will feature special guests The Loveless featuring Marc Almond, Peter Hook And The Light, and The Courettes.
