Multi-platinum, GRAMMY Award-winning rock band Portugal The Man are back with a new single, “What, Me Worry?”. Listen to it now below.
Produced by Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, Harry Styles) and Ryan Tedder (Adele, Beyoncé), “What, Me Worry?” marks the first official release from the band’s long-awaited 9th studio album, produced by Bhasker and due out this June.
The driving new single arrives with a cinematic official video starring the band and directed by Los Güeyes (Aaron Brown & Josué Rivas). Watch here. Later this month (Feb 23), the band will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the track’s high-energy television debut.
On the inspiration behind “What, Me Worry?”, guitarist and lead singer John Gourley shares, “While recording this album and hanging in LA, we got into a conversation with Jeff Bhasker and Ryan Tedder about how much we missed laughter. The last few years it’s been so easy to forget the fun in what we do. We talked about childhood memories of laughing at the world and ourselves while flipping through Mad Magazine. We missed those days and remembered that we all make music. So we took that afternoon to make a song about it.”
Last week, the band launched a groundbreaking, limited pre-save campaign, which rewarded fans who pre-saved “What, Me Worry?” with 1 $PTM of PTM Coin, the band’s community-built social token (a type of cryptocurrency). In partnership with Rally, the band first launched PTM Coin last summer – providing fans with access to a number of exclusive perks and experiences, as well as potential shared value created by the PTM economy. Alongside the debut of the coin, the band penned an op-ed for Rolling Stone detailing the motivations behind developing their own unique cryptocurrency.
Today’s new single arrives as the Alaska-born, Portland-based rockers prepare for their upcoming 34-date North American tour alongside alt-J, set to kick off Feb 25 with support from Sir Chloe and Cherry Glazerr (routing below). The tour includes a stop at LA’s Crypto.com Arena on March 27, as well as a show at New York’s legendary Madison Square Garden on April 11.
The band is celebrating the upcoming run with the launch of their PTM’s NIGHT OUT initiative – supporting disabled fans requiring ADA access. In select markets, pairs of winning ticket holders will be treated as VIP guests of the band – provided with transportation to and from the show and concierge escorts throughout the venue, as well as gifted merchandise and a special meet-and-greet.
In announcing the program, guitarist Eric Howk shared:
“I toured the country on two legs for 10 years of my life without ever giving a single thought to accessibility. I played basements and balconies, pavilions, and grandstands. I dragged amplifiers up and down stairs and took access for granted. Then, at 25, I fell down a hole and became a complete t4 paraplegic in an instant.
Since that moment, many things in my life have changed, but touring has remained a constant in my life. As a wheelchair user, and a believer that music is the great equalizer in humanity, I have come to understand that many of the venues that I play are not accessible or welcoming to people across the disability spectrum.
In many situations, I have found that sourcing accessible tickets to events is prohibitively difficult, and even then, merely the tip of the iceberg of considerations that must be made. Transportation to and from the venue, access to water and concessions, access to restrooms, obstructions to lines-of-sight from audience to stage – these are just a few of the logistics that many people in the disability community juggle each time they plan on seeing their favorite artists.
Wouldn’t it be nice if somebody was out there making sure that all these factors were considered? Wouldn’t it be great just to relax and enjoy the show?”
PTM’s NIGHT OUT is a product of Portugal The Man’s continued dedication to social justice, which they further solidified in 2020 with the creation of PTM Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on universal issues related to human rights, community health, and the environment, with an emphasis on causes directly impacting Indigenous Peoples.
All the above arrives following the stellar success of the band’s 2017 RIAA gold-certified album, Woodstock, highlighted by the inescapable, 6x platinum-certified hit, “Feel It Still,” which earned the band their first GRAMMY Award for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” and dominated airwaves – hitting #1 at Top 40 radio and breaking the Alternative radio record for longest running number #1 of all time at 20 weeks. Woodstock also delivered the Gold-certified single “Live In The Moment,” which also hit #1 at Alternative radio and broke the record for most plays in a single week at the format.
Portugal The Man & alt-J Tour Routing:
February 25, 2022 – Pittsburgh, PA – Petersen Events Center *
February 26, 2022 – Washington, DC – The Anthem *
February 27, 2022 – Washington, DC – The Anthem *
March 1, 2022 – Nashville, TN – Nashville Municipal Auditorium *
March 2, 2022 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena *
March 4, 2022 – Tampa, FL – Yuengling Center*
March 5, 2022 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Hard Rock Live*
March 6, 2022 – Orlando, FL – Central Florida Fairgrounds *
March 9, 2022 – Dallas, TX – The Factory in Deep Ellum *
March 12, 2022 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater *#
March 13, 2022 – Houston, – White Oak Music Hall *
March 15, 2022 – St Louis, MS – Chaifetz Arena *
March 16, 2022 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Temple Detroit *
March 17, 2022 – Milwaukee, WI – UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena *
March 19, 2022 – Chicago, IL – Credit Union 1 Arena at UIC *
March 20, 2022 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory *
March 23, 2022 – Denver, CO – 1STBANK Center *#
March 25, 2022 – San Diego, CA – Pechanga Arena San Diego *#
March 26, 2022 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl *#
March 27, 2022 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena *#
March 29, 2022 – Seattle, WA – WAMU Theater *#
March 30, 2022 – Vancouver, VA – Pacific Coliseum *#
April 1, 2022 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium #
April 2, 2022 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl #
April 3, 2022 – Las Vegas, NV – The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas #
April 5, 2022 – Salt Lake City, UT – UCCU Center #
April 7, 2022 – Kansas City, KS – Cable Dahmer Arena #
April 8, 2022 – Cincinnati, OH – PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation #
April. 9, 2022 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center #
April 11, 2022 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden #
April 13, 2022 – Philadelphia, PA – TD Pavilion at the Mann #
April 14, 2022 – Boston, MA – Agganis Arena #
April 15, 2022 – Montreal, QC – Place Bell #
April 17, 2022 – Toronto, ON – Coca-Cola Coliseum #
* Dates with Sir Chloe
# Dates with Cherry Glazerr