Erja Lyytinen will mark her 50th birthday with a major new live release, 50th Birthday Live 2026, arriving on 9 October through Tuohi Records.
Available as a double CD/DVD package and double vinyl, the release captures Lyytinen’s birthday concert at the House of Culture in Helsinki on 21 March 2026, alongside a second live recording made during the Smell the Roses tour in Mikkeli in October 2025.
The first track to be released from the collection is ‘One Thing I Won’t Change’, featuring Sami Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls and Joan Jett fame on bass and backing vocals.
Originally featured on Lyytinen’s 2012 album Forbidden Fruit, the song was rearranged for the birthday show and given a heavier live treatment for the occasion.
A milestone night in Helsinki
The 90-minute birthday concert brought together songs from across Lyytinen’s career, with material from albums including Voracious Love, Another World, Dreamland Blues and her latest studio release, Smell the Roses.
The evening began with an introduction from Lyytinen’s twin sons, Massimo and Dante, before the band launched into ‘Ball and Chain’.
From there, the set moved through recent tracks ‘Smell the Roses’ and ‘Going to Hell’ before reaching further back into her catalogue with songs including ‘Bird’, ‘Cherry Overdrive’ and ‘Nasty Weather’.
The latter carries particular history. Originally recorded in Mississippi in 2006 with Kinney and David Kimbrough, it returned to the stage two decades later in a renewed live arrangement.
Lyytinen also stripped things back for a solo slide guitar performance of ‘Lullaby’, while ‘Another World’ became one of the night’s biggest communal moments as the audience joined her during the vocal breakdown.
The set closed with ‘Stoney Creek’ and ‘The Ring’.
Special guests join the celebration
The Helsinki concert also featured several guest appearances.
Swedish trio Baskery joined Lyytinen for ‘Torn’, while Sami Yaffa stepped in for ‘One Thing I Won’t Change’, adding another layer of rock ’n’ roll muscle to the set.
For Lyytinen, whose reputation has long rested on the balance between blues tradition, hard rock energy and expressive slide guitar, the birthday concert offered a chance to look back without sounding nostalgic.
Instead, the performances capture an artist still reshaping songs and finding new ways into material that has followed her for years.
‘Smell the Roses Live 2025’
The package also includes a second concert recorded at Tempo in Mikkeli, Finland, on 3 October 2025.
That performance focuses on Smell the Roses, featuring songs including ‘Dragonfly’, ‘Abyss’, ‘Empty Hours’ and ‘Wings to Fly’.
Longstanding live favourites ‘You Talk Dirty’ and ‘Wedding Day’ are also included, with the latter stretched into a 13-minute performance.
Together, the two concerts give the release a broader scope than a single anniversary show, pairing a career-spanning celebration with a document of Lyytinen’s current live sound.
Erja Lyytinen UK tour
Lyytinen will support the release with a seven-date UK tour in October, beginning in Dudley on 8 October.
The run includes a show at La Belle Angele in Edinburgh, a solo date in Darlington and further appearances in Sheffield, Oxford and London before finishing in Faversham.
UK dates
8 October – The Lamp Tavern, Dudley
9 October – Parish Hall, Sedgefield
11 October – La Belle Angele, Edinburgh
12 October – Angels Cut, Darlington, solo show
13 October – The Greystones, Sheffield
14 October – The Bullingdon, Oxford
15 October – Half Moon, London
16 October – The Old Brewery Store, Faversham
Erja Lyytinen – 50th Birthday Live 2026 will be released on 9 October 2026 through Tuohi Records. ‘One Thing I Won’t Change’ is available now on all major streaming platforms.
