If you’re waiting for a massive 40-city Stephen Stills concert tour to pop up on your Ticketmaster feed, honestly, you should probably find a comfortable chair. The reality of 2026 is that the days of Stills living on a tour bus for six months are over. He’s 81 now. He’s earned the right to stay home.
The "Captain Manyhands" we all know from Buffalo Springfield and CSNY hasn't completely put down the guitar, though. Not by a long shot. But the way he approaches performing has fundamentally shifted from "global icon on the road" to "legend doing cool stuff with friends."
The Reality of a Stephen Stills Concert Tour Today
Look, the truth is that Stephen Stills basically retired from traditional, grueling tours back in 2018. If you look at the schedules for 2025 and early 2026, you won't see a list of arena dates. Instead, you see "one-offs." You see benefit concerts. He just played the "Concert for Altadena" in Pasadena on January 7, 2026. He shared the stage with Dawes and Brandon Flowers. It was intimate. It was purposeful. It wasn't a 14-hour bus ride between Omaha and Des Moines.
Stills has been very vocal about why the old way of touring "appalls" him now. In recent years, he’s admitted that without the "chemical assistance" of the 70s and 80s, the physical toll of a tour is just brutal. He’s three years sober now. That’s a huge win for his health and his "original personality," as he calls it, but it also means he has no interest in the grinding boredom of the road.
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Recent Performances and Highlights
- April 26, 2025: The "Light Up The Blues" benefit at the Greek Theatre. This is his baby. He performed with Neil Young, and let's be real—whenever those two get together, it's the closest thing we have to a religious experience in rock.
- January 30, 2025: The FireAid benefit at the Kia Forum. This was a big one because he reunited with Graham Nash. Seeing them do "Teach Your Children" after everything they've been through? Total tear-jerker.
- January 7, 2026: The Altadena show. A local, community-focused gig that proves he still wants to play, just on his own terms.
What Happened to the CSNY Reunion?
We have to talk about David Crosby. His passing in 2023 changed everything. While Stills and Neil Young still jam together at Stills' house almost weekly, the "brand" of CSNY is effectively a memory. Graham Nash has been pretty blunt about it, saying there’s "no heart" in a reunion without Croz.
Stills is a bit more open-ended. He’s mentioned that there "might be a reason" to sing with Neil and Graham again—maybe a political cause or a specific event—but a full-blown Stephen Stills concert tour under the CSN banner is a fantasy. They aren't kids anymore. The harmonies that David "the glue" Crosby held together are impossible to replicate.
The Sobriety Factor
Sobriety has changed his playing. If you saw him in the mid-2010s, it was sometimes a gamble. Some nights he was on fire; other nights, the vocals were a struggle. Now? At 81, he’s reported feeling more "affable" and clear-headed. He’s working on a memoir, one word at a time, digging through old archives to piece his life back together.
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This clarity means he picks his spots. He recently said that the FireAid show was a way to see if his "thrusting and coagulating" still worked. It does. But it works for two hours at the Greek Theatre, not for three months in Europe.
Where Can You Actually See Him?
If you want to catch Stephen Stills live in 2026, you have to be strategic. Forget the big tour announcements.
- Watch for "Light Up The Blues": This is his annual autism benefit. It’s usually in LA. It usually features Neil Young. It’s his most consistent live appearance.
- Los Angeles and Surroundings: Since he’s based in California, he tends to pop up at benefits in Pasadena, Inglewood, or Hollywood.
- The Guest Spot: Stills loves the band Dawes. He loves playing with his son, Chris Stills. If they are playing a high-profile show in SoCal, there’s always a non-zero chance Stephen shows up with a Gretsch.
Actionable Tips for Fans
Don't buy tickets from sketchy sites claiming to have "2026 Tour Dates" for a 50-city run. Those are scams. Instead, follow the official "Light Up The Blues" social media pages. That’s where the real news breaks.
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If you’re desperate for that classic sound, Graham Nash is actually the one still hitting the road. He has dates throughout 2026. It’s not a Stills tour, but it’s the same DNA.
The best way to support Stephen right now is to keep an eye out for his upcoming memoir. He's pouring his energy into that and archival releases, like the Live at Fillmore East 1969 set. He’s protecting his legacy by staying off the bus and staying behind the mic when it actually matters.