Why is Nick Valensi taking a "temporary break" from The Strokes?
18 May 2026, 11:37
It was reported last week that The Strokes guitarist would be standing down from the band during their world tour.
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The Strokes have announced that their guitarist Nick Valensi is taking a “temporary break” from the band as they embark on their tour.
The 45‑year‑old musician sat out several shows with the Last Nite rockers earlier this year and now it has been confirmed that he will not be joining them on their recently announced dates.
The New York indie icons are set to play Bonnaroo Festival on 12th June before kicking off their dates on 15the June in Clarkston, Michigan.
Find out what else we know about their Nick Valensi announcement and more below...
Read more:
- Listen to The Strokes' mournful new single Falling out of Love
- The Strokes add new show at The O2 London to Reality Awaits UK tour dates
Why is Nick Valensi taking a break from The Strokes?
No official reason has been given for Nick Valensi's absence from The Strokes during their Reality Awaits world tour. On 14th May the band took to their Instagram Stories to confirm the news: "Nick Valensi will be taking a temporary break from the scheduled tour, but we look forward to his return".
Who's standing in for Nick Valensi on The Strokes' Tour?
The band have confirmed on Instagram that “holding down the guitar in the meantime is our old friend Steve Schiltz, who many of you will remember from the early NY days”.
Steve Schiltz is known as the vocalist, guitarist and co-founder of American indie rock band Longwave and also has music department credits on The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), and Bliss (2021), Cosmic Chaos (2023) and more.
Find out more about his projects here.
Where are The Strokes playing on their Reality Awaits tour?
- 12th June - Manchester, TN—Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
- 15th June - Clarkston, MI—Pine Knob Music Theatre17—Chicago, IL—United Center
- 19th June - Cuyahoga Falls, OH—Blossom Music Center
- 21st June - Toronto, ON—RBC Amphitheatre
- 23rd June - Boston, MA—TD Garden
- 26th June - Philadelphia, PA—TD Pavilion at Highmark Mann
- 27th June - Columbia, MD—Merriweather Post Pavilion
- 8th August - San Francisco, CA—Outside Lands Music Festival
- 4th August - Tokyo, JP—Summer Sonic
- 15th August - Osaka, JP—Summer Sonic
- 22nd August - CA—Just Like Heaven
- 25th August - OR—Hayden Homes Amphitheater
- 27th August - Vancouver, BC—Rogers Arena
- 28th August - Seattle, WA—Climate Pledge Arena
- 12th September - Tampa, FL—Benchmark International Arena
- 13th September - Hollywood, FL—Hard Rock Live
- 17th September - Charlotte, NC—Truliant Amphitheater
- 18th September - Atlanta, GA—Shaky Knees Music Festival
- 20th September - Asbury Park, NJ—Sea.Hear.Now Festival
- 6th October - London, UK—The O2
- 7th October - London, UK—The O2 - NEW DATE ADDED
- 11th October - Amsterdam, NL—Ziggo Dome
- 13th October - Dusseldorf, DE—PSD Bank Dome
- 15th October - Berlin, DE—Uber Arena
- 17th October - Bologna, IT—Unipol Arena
- 20th October - Barcelona, ES—Palau Sant Jordi
- 22th October - Paris, FR—Accor Arena
- 25th October - Newcastle, UK—Utilita Arena
- 26th October - Manchester, UK—Co-op Live
- 28th October - Dublin, IE—3Arena
Meanwhile, The Strokes - completed by Julian Casablancas, Nikolai Fraiture, Albert Hammond Jr., Fabrizio Moretti - are set to release Reality Awaits on 26th June 2026 via Cult Records/RCA. The album is available to pre-order and pre-save here.
The first track to be taken from the album is lead single Going Shopping, and the mournful second cut from the record Falling out of Love, which you can hear below:
The Strokes - Falling out of Love (Audio)
Reality Awaits marks the band's seventh studio album and follows Is This It (2001), Room on Fire (2003), First Impressions of Earth (2005), Angles (2011). Comedown Machine (2013) and The New Abnormal (2020).
See its artwork and tracklisting below:.
See the tracklist for The Strokes' Reality Awaits album:
- Psycho Shit
- Dine N'Dash
- Lonely in the Future
- Falling Out of Love
- Going to Babble On
- Going Shopping
- Liar's Remorse
- The Fruits of Conquest
- Pros and Cons
The Strokes play Someday at All Points East 2023
Read more:
- What are The Strokes' biggest songs?
- The Strokes inspired Lizzo on album Love in Real Life
- REVIEW: The Strokes & Yeah Yeah Yeahs deliver noughties nostalgia at All Points East 2023
