Iconic Merseybeat band The Searchers announce plans for retirement after Glastonbury debut

Posted On March 23, 2025March 23, 2025

One of the longest-running bands in pop history, The Searchers, has confirmed that they will retire once they make their Glastonbury debut in 2025. This will bring their 68-year career to an end.

The legendary Merseybeat group were contemporaries of The Beatles. They got their start during the British Invasion and have enjoyed a successful career ever since; however, they are now looking to take their final bow.

Throughout their time as a band, The Searchers have found success filling out venues worldwide and selling millions of records. They announced that they will be going on a final farewell tour, which will end after their set at Glastonbury on June 27th.

One of the band’s earliest hits came in 1963 when they covered The Drifters ‘Sweet For My Sweet’. It climbed to the top of the UK charts, which was helped thanks to the track appearing on the Merseybeat edition of the show Thank Your Lucky Stars.

The original songwriter, Mort Shuman, was a fan of The Searchers cover of the song; however, he was always slightly frustrated that the band managed to get the words wrong. “Well, they got the words wrong – It’s ‘Your tasty kiss’, not ‘Your fair sweet kiss’ – but I thought it was fine,” he said, “They had a different sound to the Drifters but it wasn’t necessarily inferior. It was so infectious and that is all you wanted from those singles.”

The band also had a hit with the 1964 song ‘Needles And Pins’, which was featured on the album It’s The Searchers. The song is about a lost romantic who becomes so enamoured with a girl that he gets needles and pins every time he sees her.

The Searchers final show will take place at Glastonbury 2025.

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