Sara Bareilles Returns with New Album 'Good Grief,' Announces Tour and Documentary

Sara Bareilles is making a major comeback. The 46-year-old singer-songwriter dropped a slate of announcements on Wednesday, June 3, featuring the debut of "Home," the opening track from her seventh studio album Good Grief, arriving August 28.

The album marks Bareilles' first full-length release since 2019's Amidst the Chaos. The 14-track record explores themes of loss and grief while maintaining threads of hope throughout, even in its most somber passages. According to official description, the songs function as "transmissions rather than a deliberate attempt to make sense of the world."

"My deepest hope is that Good Grief provides some kind of comfort or catharsis," Bareilles shared about the project.

The collection spans intimate tributes to departed friends, powerful statements about women's rights, and moments of levity discovered within darker contexts. Bareilles produced the album herself, recording most of it over six days at Dreamland Recording Studios in Woodstock, New York, with longtime collaborators including drummer Charley Drayton, guitarist Butterfly Boucher, keyboardist Misty Boyce, bassist Solomon Dorsey, and multi-instrumentalist Rob Moose. Later sessions took place with co-producer Aaron Dessner at his Long Pond Studios in the Hudson Valley. The record also features guest appearances from Brandi Carlile, Andrea Gibson, Ingrid Michaelson, Joe Tippett, and Megan Falley.

The Song's Inspiration

Bareilles revealed that "Home" emerged from listening to a podcast conversation between Anderson Cooper and Stephen Colbert discussing their personal experiences with grief. She explained to Cooper on his show All There Is that she was moved by Colbert's account of losing his father and two brothers in a plane crash when he was a child, as well as Cooper's own losses—his father during surgery at age 10, followed by his brother's death by suicide and his mother's passing in 2019.

"Your connection in that conversation, I found it to be really inspiring. I came home and started writing a song about it," she said, even jokingly describing her work as "pretty much plagiarism" from their exchange.

She reflected on the importance of vulnerability: "For me, on this Earth, our work is to find ways to be bold enough to let other people see us. Telling stories is such an important part of that."

Documentary and Tour Plans

A documentary chronicling the album's creation, titled Sara Bareilles: Good Grief, is set to premiere at the Tribeca Festival this week. Directed by Josh Alexander and produced by Daniel J. Chalfen, the film provides an intimate look at Bareilles' return to the studio with close collaborators—her first time recording with this group in seven years. The documentary captures her creative process and frames it as a meditation on loss, healing, and music's restorative power.

This fall, Bareilles will launch the Good Grief Tour, promoted by Live Nation, with performances across North America. The tour kicks off September 9 in Boston at MGM Music Hall at Fenway and continues through October 19 in Seattle at The Paramount Theatre, hitting major cities including Washington D.C., Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Ticket Information

Several presale opportunities are available. The artist presale begins Monday, June 8 at 12 p.m. local time for those registered at sarabmusic.com. Citi cardmembers can access tickets starting June 8 at 10 a.m. through June 9 at 10 p.m. local time via the Citi Entertainment program. Verizon customers will have an exclusive presale for U.S. shows from June 8 at 10 a.m. through June 9 at 10 p.m. local time through their My Verizon app.

The album Good Grief features the tracks: "Home," "Just a Kid," "Still Crying," "A Love Story," "Hands Off My Body," "Ladies In A Line," "Heartland," "Capsize Me," "Nervous Breakdown," "Idiot Heart," "Say Leave," "Salt Then Sour Then Sweet" (featuring Brandi Carlile), "Forever," and "Wind Is the Weather."