Legendary Punk Band Announces Final Album and Farewell Tour: ‘The End Is Near’

Iconic punk band X appear set to disband after nearly 50 years in the music business.

Founding members John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Billy Zoom and DJ Bonebrake have announced a new album, “Smoke & Fiction,” and are calling the August 2 release their “ninth and final album” in their social media posts.

“The end is nigh,” the band recently proclaimed on Facebook and Instagram, announcing a “Smoke & Fiction” tour named after the new album. Dates have been confirmed for July 6 through October 30, including a show in Alabama.

X will perform Oct. 26 at Iron City, 513 22nd St. South in Birmingham. General admission tickets for the 8 p.m. show are on sale through Ticketmaster for $30 plus service fees.

For now, Birmingham is X’s only Alabama stop on the tour, though the band is scheduled to play other Southern cities including Memphis (October 24), Nashville (October 25) and Atlanta (October 27).

A new single, “Big Black X,” was released on June 24, heralding the August release of “Smoke & Fiction” on Fat Possum Records.

The members of X have yet to discuss the album and tour in detail, and it’s unclear whether X is truly heading off to the end of the world, despite the words used in the band’s social media posts. Fans are excited about the new tour dates, even though X will be history at the end of the shows. At the same time, longtime listeners are mourning the band’s potential demise.

“I’m going to Birmingham and Atlanta,” Bruce Bogoslavsky said in a Facebook comment. “Last night I decided to add South Carolina. I’m going to sing and cry at the same time.”

“The last show X will play on this list will be in my hometown of Columbia SC,” Jeremy Martin said on Facebook. “It’s crazy that I discovered them as a very young punk watching Decline. We’ve come full circle and here we are. I can’t wait to see this show.”

X was founded in 1977 in Los Angeles and has eight studio albums to its credit, from 1980 to 2020, as well as a handful of live albums. The influential band has continued to perform over the years and has a core of devoted fans.

“With lyrics inspired by beat poetry and noir fiction, a seductive man-woman chant, and a unique blend of rock, punk, and roots music, X released his must-have debut album, ‘Los Angeles,’ in 1980,” AL.com’s Matt Wake said in a 2023 article. “More than 40 years later, that debut continues to resonate. The title track has been streamed more than 20 million times on Spotify.”

“X’s music helped shape the next generation of great LA bands that followed them later in the ’80s. Alternative rock lords Jane’s Addiction regularly covered X’s “Nausea” live. Funkateers Red Hot Chili Peppers covered X’s song “White Girl” live and incorporated it into their track “Good Time Boys” from the album “Mother’s Milk.”

“X’s classic tetralogy—which also includes 1981’s ‘Wild Gift’ LP, 1982’s ‘Under the Big Black Sun’ and 1983’s ‘More Fun in the New World’—still sounds as hot and new as ever,” Wake continues. “In 2003, Rolling Stone named ‘Los Angeles’ to the magazine’s ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time.’ That X record came in at No. 287, between the Grateful Dead’s ‘Anthem of the Sun’ (288) and Al Green’s ‘I’m Still In Love With You’ (286).”

In a 2023 interview, X’s Cervenka told Wake that she considers herself to be in “the best band in the world.” The singer also talked about a new album in the works.

“It’s probably going to be a little bit more ‘classic X’ than the last one, because we’ll have more time outside of the studio to work on the songs,” Cervenka said. “Even though we’re only a little over halfway through the writing and arranging, I would say there’s a bit of a wanderlust, which is weird because I’ve had that my whole life.”

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At the time, X was touring for “Alphabetland” in 2020, and Cervenka said the band was lucky to have its original lineup on stage.

“You know, you hope to live a long, healthy life, and that’s hard to achieve, so I guess we were just lucky to all still be here,” Cervenka said. “I don’t know how else to say it.”