Little Feat, your favorite band’s favorite band, who have been regularly touring in some form since their formation in 1969, recently announced “The Last Farewell Tour.”
A tongue-in-cheek title referencing The Last Record album, the unit will be soon start the process of retiring from touring, and they announced a plethora of dates starting in April 2026 with shows in Austin, Orlando, New Orleans, Kansas City and more. Tickets went on sale November 7th.
In an exclusive with Rolling Stone, Bill Payne stated, “Everybody and their brother is retiring now. But I’ll be honest, I resisted it at first. I’ll be 77 in March, and [guitarist] Fred Tackett is 80 and [bassist] Kenny [Gradney] will be 76 next year. But what’s the rush on farewelling this thing?”
“It’s not an immediate cutoff,” he added, confirming the final global tour will take several years. “When I really thought about it, if you play a venue, you just knock it off your list and don’t have to jump on a bus and go places every night, which is probably not a bad thing. And you can do residencies, if they’re available, or play music with other people or do special events.”
Little Feat also released a new single, “Feathers and a Smile,” a previously unreleased song written by band co-founder Lowell George from an unreleased portion of “Crazy Captain Gunboat Willie Suite” from the band’s debut. It features Little Feat’s Bill Payne on piano and vocals, Scott Sharrad on Dobro, Fred Tackett on mandolin, alongside vocals from Lowell George’s daughter, Inara George.
Discussing the new single with Rolling Stone, Inara stated, “There’s a sweetness to it, an innocence, that feels like it’s indicative of an earlier time,” she says. “The imagery is a little more Sixties. Part of my dad’s storytelling is that he used words that were not always expected, which is something I admire.”
Little Feat began in 1969 when Frank Zappa told Lowell George he should start his own band. As Lowell happened to have a pretty small shoe size, the name became obvious. He found a partner/keyboard player in Bill Payne, and a drummer in Richie Hayward.
After a few transitions, they added Kenny Gradney (bass), Sam Clayton (percussion), Paul Barrere (guitar) and eventually Fred Tackett (guitar), and began a now 56-year journey that has produced dozens of iconic songs: “Dixie Chicken,” “Oh, Atlanta,” “Willin’,” “Fat Man in the Bathtub” – and a thousand memories. One result was one of the best live albums in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, Waiting for Columbus.
“Playing is the joy and satisfaction of touring, but it comes with the hard part — travel, the endless miles on a bus,” the band said in a statement. “There’s no dodging the wear and tear, and Little Feat has been playing for quite a while.”
They went on to offer a glimmer of hope: “It’s definitely not an absolute, never-gonna-play again statement. This wind-down will take several years to accomplish, and while it does, Feat will continue to perform and record as long as they are able. It’s a retirement from the travel of touring.”
Little Feat Last Farewell Tour Dates:
Apr 10 Fri – Orlando, FL – The Plaza Live
Apr 11 Sat – Miramar Beach, FL – Joe Bonamassa’s Sound Wave Beach Weekend 2026
Apr 13 Mon – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Theatre
Apr 14 Tue – Roanoke, VA – Jefferson Center
Apr 16 Thu – Chattanooga, TN – Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium
Apr 17 Fri – Montgomery, AL – Montgomery Performing Arts Center
Apr 19 Sun – Dallas, TX – Majestic Theatre
Apr 20 Mon – Austin, TX – Paramount Theatre
May 3 Sun – Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall
May 5 Tue – Eureka Springs, AR – City Auditorium
May 6 Wed – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
May 8 Fri – Iowa City, IA – Englert Theatre
May 9 Sat – St. Charles, IL – Arcada Theatre
May 24 Sun – Thornville, OH – Dark Star Jubilee
Featured photo by Fletcher Moore
