Article Contributed by Reybee Inc.
Published on 2026-04-27
New Album TRANSFORMATION To Be Released May 29, 2026
“Mike lived a life of beauty and never gave up right to the very end,” says Jules Peters, bandmate and wife of the late Mike Peters of The Alarm, who passed away on April 29, 2025. Following a fearlessly valiant 31-year battle with cancer, his monumental legacy continues with the release of Transformation on May 29, 2026 via Twenty First Century Recordings/Virgin Music Group. Its latest single, “Live Today,” premieres now via Consequence.
Filmed just days before Mike underwent the innovative CAR-T treatment with hopes of eradicating Richter’s Syndrome, an aggressive form of lymphoma, “Live Today” is Mike’s final video. “As the sun rose, watching Mike perform this song with so much optimism and hope will live with me forever,” said Jules. “It was a bittersweet day for me as we filmed this incredible joyous film on the beach in the North of England. After filming concluded, we climbed onto the tour bus and drove straight to the Christie Hospital in Manchester, U.K. We were full of determination that the pioneering CAR-T would save Mike’s life, but at the same time, I was personally terrified as I couldn’t shake off a feeling that cancer had finally caught up with us both.”
A poignant rallying cry, the video shows Mike performing without any hint of weakness, though his health was ailing at the time. “This video is such a difficult watch,” she says through tears. “It broke my heart… but it captures the eternal essence of Mike Peters that keeps us coming back to him and his incredible songs time after time.”
Taken from the upcoming Transformation, “Live Today” is one of 12 prescient tracks that Mike gifts us through his passing. The recording sessions for Transformation began spontaneously on October 7, 2024, and after various life interventions, it was finally completed on the evening of January 15, 2025 — the night before he began his CAR-T therapy.
From the opening call to arms “New Life,” The Alarm roars vibrantly to life. Originally intended as an optimistic song to herald triumph over cancer and be released after he had beaten cancer successfully again, it instead carries a new poignant breath as he sings, “I’ll see you in the new life.”
First single “Chimera” was poised as an allegorical rebirth when it was released on January 23, 2025 — the exact day his CAR-T therapy began. Symbolically encapsulating the Greek mythos of a chimera, which embodies the characteristics of different animals into one body, Mike envisioned that he himself would become like the fabled creature. “When I have CAR-T therapy I will literally become chimeric,” stated Mike at the time. “There will be two types of blood flowing inside of me. Two individual types of DNA.”
The classic ringing guitar progressions that made The Alarm household names in the ’80s punctuate “Outlier,” with Mike’s vocals showing no signs of wear. The anthemic and earnest “One In A Million” begins as a gorgeous hymn with the lyrics “one life, one heart, one soul” before counting down to a fiery chorus. It’s a fist-up outcry, the kind that the band built their initial acclaim with and made fans out of U2, Simple Minds, The Cult, among dozens of other renowned bands. The closing ballad “Love Makes Love” ends the album on a pensive note, the warmth of Mike’s voice acting as a final embrace.
“Transformation is the finest Alarm album of all, written through adversity, with lashings of hope to stay strong, to believe, to keep moving forwards, to stay alive, to never be afraid and to welcome transformation,” says Jules.
Described by Bono of U2 as “the second greatest rock and roll band in the world,” Mike Peters was the driving force behind The Alarm for over forty creative years of new music making and dedication to presenting the band’s classic songs in ways both imaginative and inventive. A voice of defiance and hope both on and off the stage, Peters first rose to prominence in the early 1980s with The Alarm, whose powerful anthems like “68 Guns” and “Strength” helped define a generation of alternative rock. Known for their empowering anthems and heartfelt lyrics, the band garnered a devoted international following, with Peters’ raw vocals and commanding stage presence at the heart of it all.
Diagnosed with lymphoma in 1995 and later with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Peters refused to let his illness silence him. Instead, he turned his fight into a mission to help others. Alongside his wife Jules, he co-founded Love Hope Strength, a music-driven cancer charity that revolutionized awareness and action around stem cell donation. Through its innovative “Get On The List” campaigns—often hosted at rock concerts and even atop mountains—the charity has added over 400,000 people to the global stem cell registry and helped secure thousands of potential life-saving matches for patients worldwide.
While this may seem like the final chapter for The Alarm, Transformation promises that the legacy of the band will grow into something larger. While Mike has gone out in a blaze of glory, his love, hope, and strength continue on.
Jules concludes, “Mike and the spirit of The Alarm will ‘Live Today,’ forever more. I invite you all to blast Transformation out loud. Imagine Mike in the room with you. Transformation is his battle cry, his resilient love of life.”
“Live Today” is available now. Transformation arrives May 29, 2026.
Transformation Track List
New Life
Chimera
Outlier
Saviour
Metaverse
Wired
One In A Million
Live Today
Soul Town
In Unity
To Be Alive
Love Makes Love
