The Generations Tour 2026
The Human League's vocalist, Susan Ann Sulley, talks with Where Y'at about looking forward to their first concert and visit to New Orleans this month at the Saenger Theatre.
Soft Cell of "Tainted Love" fame and Alison Moyet of Yaz or Yazoo fame, depending on which side of the pond you bopped her hit single "Don't Go," round up the '80s New Wave, synth-pop, Gen X dream ticket.
From industrial Sheffield, England, to pop icons, the Human League's electronic Billboard hit "Don't You Want Me" resonated across the musical spectrum in 1981-1982. The band's video spawned international style trends copying their MTV video's asymmetrical haircuts, androgynous makeup, and slick padded-shoulder ensembles.
The Human League's two songstresses and lead singer Philip Oakley engendered a very particular '80s style popularized by hit bands of the era, such as Sheffield's other New Wave band phenom ABC, of "Poison Arrow" and "Look of Love" fame, and Birmingham's Duran Duran, who climbed the same American music charts in the summer of 1982.
"We're incredibly lucky we've got a back catalog of music that obviously resonates with young and old," Sulley said.
Sulley and the band speak of their amazement at audiences the world over, "even the youngsters in the crowd," lip-syncing to their breakout hit "Don't You Want Me," as well as "Human" and "Fascination."
She says she and Joanne Catherall joined the group when she was 17 and that, after 45 years, she never thought fame could last this long. She laughs about still hearing the Human League songs on the radio, or in the grocery store, three times in one day recently. However, when asked, she is adamant that her former MTV style has evolved at age 63. An admitted fashionista still, Sulley confesses that endless Zara packages fill her mailbox, but the outrageous dark slashes of '80s eye makeup are in the past.
"There comes a point where you have to try to dress appropriately," Sulley laughed. "We now try to look attractive, not scary."
Looking back, Sulley paused to muse on her journey, "It's amazing really, that one song, it catapulted us."
It doesn't matter where they go, she says. Every country in the world, the audience begins to sway and sings the entire song along with the band.
"Every time we sing it, the audience is singing the introduction before we even come on stage. I cry every time," Sulley said. "I really can't believe it."
The tour has a grueling schedule, with most stops only days apart.
"It's going to be hard work, but hey, ho," Sulley said. "We really want to do it. We all love America, and we're all really looking forward to being there."
The North American "Generations Tour" features 21 shows in only 31 days. The tour, marking the band's first comprehensive US tour in 15 years, runs from June to July 2, 2026.
Sulley says she and the rest of the band are hopeful and excited to finally, maybe, get a chance to explore New Orleans, and she can't believe she's never made it before.
Before the concert, if there's time, she and Catherall are fans of super-touristy bus tours, while lead singer Philip Oakley is only interested in indulging his personal passion: shopping. She states an additional goal, besides an admittedly hokey bus tour, is to taste her first gumbo—and find time for much-needed sleep.
The Human League, with
Soft Cell and Alison Moyet, will perform on June 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Saenger
Theatre in New Orleans.
