On February 7, 2026, Arnold died from the cancer in his sleep; his death was announced by the band later in the afternoon through a statement on their social media accounts. Arnold was paid tribute from the rock music community in his honor.
On 6 February 2026, the band were featured on the single “Slave to the Rithm”, by Illenium , from his album Odyssey .
On February 2, 2026, it was announced that Godsmack would be doing a North American tour with Stone Temple Pilots and Dorothy on “The Rise Of Rock” tour from May to September 2026.
In February 2026, the band was confirmed to be among the headlining acts for Louder Than Life festival taking place in Louisville in September, along with Iron Maiden , My Chemical Romance and Tool .
In February 2026, Babymetal collaborated with Japanese vocalist Tatsuya Kitani to release ” Kasuka na Hana “, the opening theme song for the second season of the anime Hell’s Paradise .
Welch, in a February 2026 interview, clarified that while work on the album is still ongoing and there were plans to reconvene for exchange of new material, the band as a whole instead have decided to focus on touring-related endeavours due to already having a substantial catalogue of released works…
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The following month, the band announced the Freaks on Parade Tour , a co-headlining tour with Rob Zombie.
The band’s former bassist and producer Tim Skold announced his return to the live band in February 2026.
In January 2026, the band announced their third album, Did You Ask to Be Set Free? , would be released on 10 April.
In January 2026, fans of the band expressed their distaste for the mixing on their two newest singles, “Hurt People Hurt People” and “Sticks and Stones”. In response from the band, new versions of both singles were uploaded to streaming sites, with producer Dave Fortman adding: “…the band wasn’t happy…
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