Gretta Ray Announces 2027 Australian Tour

30 October 2026 10:08 AM

Mary Varvaris Photo of Mary Varvaris

Gretta Ray is touring in support of her newly released album, 'Heartsong,' her first in three years.

Gretta Ray(Credit: Tom Lewis)

On the day she releases her new album, Heartsong, Gretta Ray has announced an East Coast Australian tour for 2027.

In a short but sweet run of shows, Ray will perform at Sydney’s Metro Theatre on Thursday, 8 April, Brisbane’s The Triffid on Friday, 9 April, and Melbourne’s Thornbury Theatre on Saturday, 10 April.

The fan pre-sale opens on Monday, 2 November, at 9 am local time, followed by the general sale on Tuesday, 3 November, at 9 am local time. Tickets will be available via Gretta Ray’s website.

Heartsong is the follow-up to Ray’s second album, 2023’s Positive Spin, which was nominated for an APRA Award and the Australian Music Prize. While her previous albums have flirted with all kinds of pop sounds, Heartsong turns inward, focusing on organic sounds like acoustic guitars, pianos, and drums, brimming with warmth.

Ray’s new album examines loss, yearning and rebirth after illness. In 2024, she was diagnosed with infective endocarditis, “a severe infection in the heart that for me, caused a multitude of distressing repercussions.”

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As a result of the diagnosis, Ray cancelled her remaining planned tour dates for 2024, noting that she did so “to allow me the best chance of making a full recovery.” She went on to say how the rare disease had taken a significant toll on her heart, which meant “that at some stage I will need to undergo surgery.”

Discussing the themes of her new album, Ray said:

This album is about grief - how I came to know it, wrestle with it and learned to live alongside it, following a life-altering health scare that I endured shortly after turning 26.

It is a recount of how quickly my outlook on life, my priorities, my relationships and my career, changed after my world as I knew it turned on a dime. Amidst the heaviness and heartache of it all, a part of me was shaken awake once my confidence was shot, forcing me to come to terms with what I truly valued about my life.

As much as this album unpacks what it means to sit with your sadness, to honour it, to give it every aching minute, it also tells the story of a triumphant return to one’s sense of self, and how retreating to the ocean, your family and friendships, your journal, and your guitar & piano will be the things that mirror your inner essence, true purpose, and your reason to be.