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. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the band’s debut album’ Scissor Sisters’, one of the UK’s 40 best-sellers of all time. To celebrate this, the era-defining pop disruptors comprised of lead singer Jake Shears along with 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.
In 2004, the album ‘Scissor Sisters’ became the year’s best-selling album, selling over 3 million copies worldwide, with 2 million of those sales in the UK. It is 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 achieved 9x Platinum status in the UK and won three BRIT Awards in 2005, including Best International Album, Best International Group, and Best International Breakthrough Act. This achievement made Scissor Sisters the first act to win all three international categories.
The band is currently discussing ideas for their setlist and intends to perform every track from their album during the tour. In addition, they plan to select highlights from their three subsequent albums: 2006’s Ta-Dah, 2010’s Night Work, and 2012’s Magic Hour, all of which contain some of the band’s biggest hits and most beloved fan favourites.
Jake told QX, “It’s the 20th anniversary of our debut album, so it feels like the right time to revisit all the intense excitement of that moment.” Asked what the impetus for the tour was, Jake said, “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 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.”
“We put queer culture in the mainstream at a time when there wasn’t much of it there.”
Babydaddy
Babydaddy highlights the significance of being a gay band, “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.¨ He acknowledges how different times were then for queer bands, “We put queer culture in the mainstream at a time when there wasn’t much of it there.”
Del is looking forward to the reunion tour, “There will always be a 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.”
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 currently focusing on.
“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 go on general sale today, Friday 8th November at 10am, all via www.scissorsisters.com.
The Scissor Sisters arena tour dates on sale today are:
FRI 16 MAY 2025 NOTTINGHAM, MOTORPOINT ARENA
SAT 17 MAY GLASGOW, OVO HYDRO
MON 19 MAY 2025 BOURNEMOUTH, INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
TUE 20 MAY 2025 CARDIFF, UTILITA ARENA
WED 21 MAY MANCHESTER, CO-OP LIVE
FRI 23 MAY 2025 LONDON, THE O2
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 DUBLIN, 3ARENA
WITH SUPPORT FROM VERY SPECIAL GUEST ALISON GOLDFRAPP
www.ticketmaster.co.uk / www.gigsandtours.com
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.
