​Music Musts: 8 Albums and Tours to Get Excited About​​​

Get more information here: melissaetheridge.com/events

Carlos Santana: A new album in October and gigs on the calendar​

The album: Carlos Santana and his Latin-infused rock band enlisted top-shelf talent for album Blessings and Miracles (out Oct. 15). The guitar legend, 74, reunites with Matchbox Twenty singer Rob Thomas (his duet partner on the 1999 chart-topper “Smooth”) for pop-funk tune “Move.” Among other collaborators, Steve Winwood appears on a transcendent cover of Procol Harum’s 1967 classic, “Whiter Shade of Pale.” Santana says the album title came from his belief that people are born with the power to create blessings and miracles. “The world programs you to be unworthy of those gifts, but we have to utilize light, spirit and soul – they’re indestructible and immutable,” he says. “Those are the three main elements on this album.”​

The tour: The band has dates booked through the end of the year and a 2022 tour starting in June.

Get more information here: santana.com​

Coldplay: A new album in October and plans for a sustainable tour to come​

The album: The British rock band has been enticing fans with a mysterious rollout for their ninth studio album, Music of the Spheres (out Oct. 15) that included teases on Twitter and cryptic content on billboards worldwide. But now the news is out: The album, produced by Swedish pop maestro Max Martin, is set in the Spheres, a fantasy solar system of nine planets, three satellites, a nebula and a star. Each album track represents a celestial body of that solar system. Singer Chris Martin, 44, has said Music of the Spheres was inspired in part by watching the Mos Eisley cantina band in Star Wars films and musing about musicians in other galaxies.​

The tour: Two years ago, Coldplay swore off touring until it could be done sustainably. The band will get back on the road thanks to a partnership with BMW and its all-electric trucks.

Get more information here: coldplay.com

Elton John: A lockdown-inspired album in October and return to the Yellow Brick Road farewell tour in 2022

​The album: “The last thing I expected to do during lockdown was make an album,” Elton John posted to Instagram on Sept. 1. On Oct. 22, the 74-year-old singer/songwriter delivers The Lockdown Sessions, a 16-track set with 10 previously unreleased songs including collaborations with diverse artists from Dua Lipa and Lil Nas X to Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, Miley Cyrus, Eddie Vedder and the late Glen Campbell. Some were recorded via Zoom, others in a studio under strict safety protocols with players separated by glass partitions. The Rocket Man says the results “took me out of my comfort zone into completely new territory.”​

The tour: He’s returning in January 2022 to his Farewell Yellow Brick Road: The Final Tour, which was interrupted by COVID-19, and is working on the musical version of The Devil Wears Prada, which starts previews next July in Chicago, two years behind schedule.

Get more information here: eltonjohn.com​

ABBA: A new album in November and a high-tech show in London in 2022​

The album: After refusing lucrative reunion offers for 40 years, Swedish pop supergroup ABBA is returning with a new album, Voyage (out Nov. 5), and a revolutionary digital live experience. ABBA’s first studio release since 1981 includes the already out “I Still Have Faith in You,” a power ballad about the group’s enduring bonds, and “Don’t Shut Me Down,” a melodic disco throwback. ​

The show: The foursome – Agnetha (71), Bjorn (76), Benny (74) and Anni-Frid (75) – will appear as “Abbatars” with a live 10-piece band in a high-tech extravaganza opening May 27 and running through October 2022 at a custom-built arena in London. Their digital versions were created over months of performance and motion-capture techniques by the group and an 850-member team from George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic, the company’s first move into music.

Get more information here: abbavoyage.com

Diana Ross: A new album in November and (just maybe) a 2022 U.S. tour ​

The album: The voice that kept us hanging on in the 1960s is once again cooing love songs and belting dance anthems. Thank You (out Nov. 5) is Diana Ross’ 25th solo studio album (she made 29 with The Supremes) and her first since 2006. The diva, 77, cowrote nine of the 13 songs and made the album in her home studio during the lockdown with songwriter and producer Jack Antonoff. The title track is a gentle valentine to her fans, and “If the World Just Danced” sets the disco ball spinning.​

The tour? No word on whether Ross will tour in the United States, but she has 2022 dates booked in the U.K.

Get more information here: dianaross.com

Clint Black: Back on tour in October​

The tour: Clint Black and actress/singer Lisa Hartman Black will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary on Oct. 20, and the country star has come up with the perfect way to mark the occasion. Take your partner to work. The couple will embark on their first tour together, dubbed Mostly Hits & the Mrs., starting in Wichita Falls, Texas, on Nov. 18 and wrapping up in New Orleans on, appropriately, Valentine’s Day. The set list is certain to include such No. 1 Clint tunes as “Killin’ Time,” “Nothin’ But Taillights” and “A Good Run of Bad Luck.” Expect to hear the couple’s current duet “Til the End of Time,” as well as "When I Said I Do," their 1999 Grammy-nominated No. 1 country single. Making it a family affair, Clint recently announced that the couple’s 20-year-old singer/songwriter daughter, Lily Pearl, is also joining the tour.

Get more information here: clintblack.com/tour

Edna Gundersen, a regular AARP music critic, was the longtime pop critic for USA Today.