ERJA LYYTINEN RELEASES NEW LIVE ALBUM "50TH BIRTHDAY LIVE 2026", A NEW LIVE VIDEO " BALL AND CHAIN ALSO OUT TODAY"
Finland´s own “Queen of the Slide Guitar” is celebrating her 50th Birthday with a lavish live album package consisting of a double CD, a double vinyl and a full-length DVD, that was recorded at the prestigious House of Culture, known as “Kultsa” in Helsinki Finland on 21st of March 2026. The venue House of Culture has a long tradition as a live music locale, where renowned artists from Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Queen and Slayer have performed. Erja’s amazing band back her through this 90-minute-long concert full of old gems from her career. The release features songs from albums such as “Voracious Love”, “Another World” and the latest studio album “Smell the Roses”.
This is a heavy blues rock show with international stars. Erja brought her favorite artists to perform alongside her on the show. Swedish banjo punk/blues group Baskery featured on the song “Torn” with Erja accompanying their vocals with her guitar. Legendary bassist Sami Yaffa (Joan Jett, Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls) joined Erja and her band on the track “One Thing I Won´t Change” and you can certainly feel their energy, while they rock out to this tune that was rearranged for the event from the album “Forbidden Fruit” (2012) to celebrate life and Erja´s musical skills today.
The evening starts with an introduction from Erja´s twin boys inviting the group on stage and after that the first band song “Ball and Chain” kicks in hard. We also hear “Smell the Roses” and “Going to Hell” from the latest studio album, before the set list continues with songs from older gems such as the rocking “Bird”, Erja’s beautiful slide solo take on “Lullaby”, the lushy “Cherry Overdrive” and “Nasty Weather” from Erja´s “Dreamland Blues” album. The latter was recorded in Mississippi in 2006 with Kinney and David Kimbrough and has now been played and renewed exactly twenty years after. On the song “Another World”, Erja makes a vocal break down, where a thousand people in the audience join her to sing along and savor this great moment together. The live recording also includes “Stoney Creek” and “The Ring” as an encore song, that wrap up the joyous evening at House of Culture on Erja´s Birthday.
Additionally, the live album contains a concert from the “Smell the Roses” studio album release tour in October 2025. Recorded in Tempo, Mikkeli Finland, this recording has all the album songs, like “Dragonfly”, the heavy “Abyss”, the heart wrenching ballad “Empty Hours”, huge southern-rock vibey “Wings to Fly” and in addition Erja´s favorite live tracks “You Talk Dirty” and a 13-minute-long rendition of “Wedding Day”. The latter was originally recorded on the album “Another World” together with slide maestro Sonny Landreth.
Erja Lyytinen – 50th Birthday Live 2026 album is a great package showing that this firecracker lady continues to enjoy playing live and isn´t anywhere near ready to stop making music and developing herself as a musician, songwriter and entertainer. This live album is a must for all Erja fans, who enjoy unique hard rock and blues music played with an attitude. And it will leave you with a smile on your face!
To mark the album’s release, a new live video of “Ball & Chain” is also available today. The video offers a taste of the album’s raw energy and highlights Lyytinen’s commanding stage presence and guitar work.
Watch “Ball and Chain”
50th Birthday Live 2026 is available as a double CD/DVD, double vinyl and digital album. The album can be ordered and streamed online.