Careless at Fifty, Stephen Bishop Books the Grammy Museum and Plans a Farewell Tour

Fifty years after Careless, Stephen Bishop is coming out of retirement for one last run. The Oscar-nominated and two-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter was billed to mark the anniversary of his 1976 debut on Friday, October 9, with a sold-out evening at the Grammy Museum’s Clive Davis Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, and he announced a farewell tour the same day, The Music Universe reported.

A Night in the Clive Davis Theater

The museum show was billed in the announcement as an intimate evening of acoustic performances spanning his career, with stories behind the songs, a conversation moderated by Liz Kamlet, known as Liz the Music Manager, and an audience Q and A. Special guests were announced as Eagles songwriter Jack Tempchin, Marcus Eaton and James Lee Stanley, a longtime musical partner of Peter Tork of the Monkees and a fixture of the Troubadour scene. BroadwayWorld had described the appearance as Bishop’s first live appearance in seven years.

The Album and the Guests

Careless was released through Universal Music Group in 1976 and established Bishop as one of the more distinctive voices of his generation, according to the announcement. It carried a debut-album guest list that still looks improbable. Eric Clapton played electric slide guitar on “Sinking in an Ocean of Tears” and the guitar solo on “Save It for a Rainy Day,” and Chaka Khan and Art Garfunkel also contributed. The album included the Billboard Hot 100 hit “On and On,” later covered on a Keith Urban album.

To mark the anniversary, Bishop has reissued Careless on vinyl in an edition remastered by Bernie Grundman, who mastered the original 1976 release and has worked on records by Prince, Joni Mitchell and Dr. Dre. The limited, vinyl-only edition on his own Life’s A Bish Records adds a newly colorized cover and his first-ever liner notes with previously unseen photos, along with two previously unreleased bonus tracks, “I Don’t Know You Anymore” and “Back Again.”

The Last Tour

The Farewell Tour, billed as a celebration of 50 years of Careless, begins on March 13, 2027, with a sold-out show at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, and the U.S. run concludes on August 21, 2027, with a hometown concert at the Balboa Theatre in San Diego. Singer-songwriter David Wilcox opens, and U.K. and Ireland dates follow in October 2027, with more U.S. shows to be announced. Hoodline, which noted that Bishop is 74 and was born at San Diego’s Balboa Naval Hospital, reported that the setlist will draw on Careless alongside hits such as “On and On,” “Save It for a Rainy Day,” “Separate Lives” and “It Might Be You.”