| ‘Transformation’ is Mike Peters’ final Alarm album. “Mike lived a life of beauty and never gave up right to the very end,” says Jules Peters, his bandmate and wife. Mike Peters of The Alarm passed away on 29 April 2025, following a fearlessly valiant 31-year battle with cancer. His monumental legacy continues with the release of ‘Transformation’ on CD and Vinyl variants on 20 November 2026 via Twenty First Century Recordings/Virgin Music Group. There will be both black and green vinyl versions available in stores. There is also a special limited edition audiophile double white or clear vinyl versions available exclusively via www.thealarm.com, which includes a bonus 12″ Single containing 3 additional, unreleased tracks, and a 24 page book created by Mike Peters documenting the recording process via real time messaging between the protagonists. All vinyl variants were created personally by Mike Peters. The recording sessions for ‘Transformation’ began spontaneously on 7 October 2024 and, after various life-interventions, it was finally completed on the evening of 15 January 2025 – the night before he began his CAR-T treatment with hopes of eradicating Richter’s Syndrome, an aggressive lymphoma. Filmed just before Mike underwent the innovative therapy, the video for ‘Live Today’ shows him performing without any hint of weakness, though his health was ailing at the time. “This video is such a difficult watch,” Jules 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.” The album’s opening call to arms, ‘New Life’, roars vibrantly to life. Originally intended as an optimistic song to herald the triumph over cancer to be released after he had beaten cancer successfully again, it instead carries a new sort of poignant breath as he sings, “I’ll see you in the new life.” The track ‘Chimera’ was poised as an allegorical rebirth when it was released on 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 stated at the time, “I will literally become chimeric. 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 a household name in the ‘80s punctuates ‘Outlier’ with Mike’s vocals showing no signs of wear. The anthemic and earnest ‘One In A Million’ kicks off 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, and more. The ballad “Love Makes Love” closes the album with a pensive note, the warmth of Mike’s voice acting as a final embrace. Described by Bono of U2 as “the second greatest rock and roll band in the world,” Mike Peters has been the driving force behind The Alarm for over forty creative years. 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 Alarm garnered a devoted international following, with Peters’ raw vocals and commanding stage presence at the heart of it all, garnering number one rock album chart hits in the USA / UK and 4 albums in the top 10 with Equals, Sigma, Omega and Forwards. During a music career that spanned five decades, Peters performed with some of music’s greatest artists and bands including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and U2. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 1995 and later with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, Peters refused to let his illness silence him. Instead, alongside Jules, he co-founded Love Hope Strength, a music-driven cancer charity that revolutionized awareness and action around stem cell donation that continues beyond his passing. 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, ‘Transformation’ promises that the legacy of The Alarm will transform into something larger. While Mike has gone out in a blaze of glory, his love, hope and strength continues on. Echoing the title of the single, 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. Right to the very end, Mike believed that he was going to live, to be totally free. My last memory is driving him open top along the North Wales coast road, playing ‘Transformation’ at maximum volume. He was so happy. So full of life; already imagining himself on his next world tour. So keep that positive spirit moving forwards. This is an album of hope and a passionate celebration of a life well-lived. Please do not be sad. Mike wouldn’t want that. He was so proud of this album and had the best time recording it during the last six months of his life; be happy that we all had Mike in our lives and continue to do so. The music of Mike Peters and The Alarm will always keep us strong |
