Simple Plan have been playing the same songs for 25 years. Lately, they’re playing them to a lot of people hearing them live for the first time.
“Every night we ask people, ‘Hey, how many people are here for the first time?’” drummer Chuck Comeau tells Billboard. “Sometimes it’s like 85% have never seen the band.”
The Montreal pop-punk band is drawing fans who weren’t born when “I’m Just a Kid” arrived in 2002, alongside the original listeners who are now bringing their own kids to shows. Some of the younger crowd have even started calling Simple Plan “classic rock.”
“And you’re like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Comeau says.
“There’s nothing cooler than what’s happening to our band right now,” he adds.
Much of that can be traced to “I’m Just a Kid” going viral on TikTok, where it soundtracked a challenge encouraging users to recreate their childhood photos. Comeau calls the trend a “gigantic gift,” but says meeting fans online has always come naturally to the band, which was filming backstage antics and sharing them through its website and DVDs long before TikTok existed.
“It’s the same thing,” he says. “It’s just a new platform.”
The renewed attention builds on a strong early run. The band’s 2004 album Still Not Getting Any… debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, while “Perfect” and “Welcome to My Life” reached Nos. 24 and 40, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100.
Next up is a return to Australia for Good Things Festival, where Simple Plan join a bill led by Limp Bizkit and featuring Spiritbox, the All-American Rejects, Bad Religion and MxPx. The festival hits Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse on Dec. 4, Sydney Showground on Dec. 5 and Brisbane Showgrounds on Dec. 6, marking the band’s third trip Down Under in three years.
“We love Australia. What can I say?” Comeau says. “Any excuse, we come back.”
The lineup mixes pop-punk with nu-metal, hardcore and heavier rock, the kind of bill Comeau admits might once have made him nervous. “Being on this lineup would have been a bit more intimidating 25 years ago,” he says.
He credits streaming with breaking down the scene boundaries that once divided fans, making it easier for younger listeners to move between genres. The band has seen it firsthand at European festivals, sharing stages with acts like Slipknot.
“At first, you’re a little terrified,” he says. “You’re like, ‘How’s that gonna go?’ And then you actually realize that people are stoked.”
He has his own Good Things wish list. Bad Religion, whom he calls his favorite band, are near the top, along with Swedish punks Millencolin, who are playing Pennybridge Pioneers in full. He’s also keen to finally see Limp Bizkit live. “I’ve seen a lot of crazy videos right now that are popping up everywhere,” he says.
Meanwhile, Simple Plan have started writing their seventh studio album, with work set to continue into 2027. There’s no release date, but Comeau says the band has a batch of songs it’s excited about, and no intention of rushing.
“We’ve been around for 25 years and we only have six albums,” he says. “So we take our time.”
The record will follow 2022’s Harder Than It Looks, and Comeau says the aim is to refine the band’s sound rather than overhaul it. “We know who we are,” he says. “We’re not going to turn around and make a black metal record.”
The harder challenge is competing with the band’s own past. Songs that soundtracked fans’ teenage years carry a weight that new material has to earn.
“When you get to this stage of your career, you’re almost playing against yourself,” Comeau says. “You’re playing against your history.”
“You’re not the new shiny young band anymore,” he adds. “So you’ve got to work harder to have people pay attention.”
That’s why he won’t put a deadline on it. “There’s never a good time for a bad record, and there’s never a bad time for a good record,” he says.
Next year also marks 25 years since the band’s debut album, No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls. Comeau says a special-edition vinyl and a few anniversary performances are on the table, but not a full album tour.
“I think we’re bigger than just one album,” he says. “But that album was really consequential for us. It’s the one that started it all.”
Another milestone arrives March 9, 2027, when the band releases its first children’s picture book, I’m Just a Kid: The Story of Simple Plan, illustrated by Jomike Tejido. Comeau says it grew out of watching the band’s original fans grow up and start families of their own.
“We were with them throughout their difficult moments,” he says, recalling how songs about breakups, school and friendships became part of listeners’ teenage years. “Fast-forward 20 years, 25 years, now they’re starting families, they’re having kids. We want to be there with them in this new chapter of their lives.”
The book explores friendship and perseverance and includes nods for longtime fans. “It’s as much for the parents as it is for the kids,” Comeau says.
For all the anniversaries and nostalgia, Simple Plan have never broken up, gone on hiatus or staged a reunion, which is rare among their peers. Comeau believes the years since the pandemic have been some of the band’s best, with bigger crowds and a sharper focus on the live show.
“When we were young, you were going out and you were partying,” he says. “Now it’s like, no, we don’t do that anymore. We’re all doing yoga and stretching.”
“We’ve always just kept going,” he says. “I feel like there’s a lot of work to be done.”
So, a farewell tour?
“There’s no talk about a farewell tour,” Comeau says. “Not in the cards for now.”
