Social Distortion is set to release its first album in 15 years this coming May, frontman Mike Ness confirmed during an interview with KROQ last month in Los Angeles. This new album follows the band’s 2011 release, *Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes*. A lead single is scheduled to drop later this month.
The upcoming release marks the veteran punk outfit’s first album since Ness was diagnosed with tonsil cancer in 2023. The band had been working on the record at the time of his diagnosis, Ness noted.
During his interview with KROQ’s Kevin Ryder, Ness provided an update on his health, describing the experience as unlike anything he’d faced before. “I was afraid I was gonna not gonna live,” Ness told Ryder, according to Consequence. “I’ve been through some hard things in my life in some dangerous situations, as you can imagine, but nothing like that.”
Ness underwent a robotic surgery to remove his tonsil and tumor, followed by a second procedure in which doctors removed lymph nodes from his neck. He emerged from surgery with a drain and feeding tube and had to relearn basic functions.
“I had to learn to eat, swallow everything,” Ness shared. “I mean, they went in there — they sent a robot. I call him Ike, the robot. He went down and cut out my tonsil and the tumor. And then the second part of the surgery was, they slit my neck and cut the lymph nodes out. So, I could not eat food.”
Despite the ordeal, Ness revealed that his singing voice is now “stronger than it’s ever been.” Fans can look forward to hearing his powerful vocals on the band’s upcoming album this May.
https://www.silive.com/entertainment/2026/01/punk-veterans-set-to-drop-first-new-album-in-15-years-following-singers-health-scare.html
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