Good Charlotte Announce Return Of Greetings From California And Share U R Featuring Ziggy Marley

Good Charlotte are bringing back Greetings From California, the long-lost album Joel and Benji Madden first released as The Madden Brothers in 2014, with an expanded re-release arriving on 6 November via MDDN/Atlantic.

To mark the news, the band have shared a reimagined version of fan favourite ‘U R’, now featuring eight-time GRAMMY winner and reggae legend Ziggy Marley. The single is out now, and you can listen to ‘U R’ here.

It is the first time Good Charlotte have worked with Marley, and the collaboration leans into the genre-blurring spirit that made Greetings From California such a distinctive record in the first place.

The album has an unusual history. It came out under The Madden Brothers name in 2014, but the twins took it offline the following year. In the decade since, it has quietly built a legacy of its own, with fans repeatedly calling for its return to streaming platforms.

Now it is officially coming home as a Good Charlotte release. The new edition includes three bonus reimaginings of songs from the original album, and it is available to pre-order and pre-save now.

Joel and Benji Madden say the decision to revisit the record has been a long time coming.

“More than 12 years ago we made this album as The Madden Brothers. Soon after releasing it we felt like we wanted to take it back, and keep it just for us,” they explain. “All these years later, we realized, this could have been a GC record all along, so we’ve put some time and love into repackaging this to re-release it, and it’s really meaningful to get to share it again.”

“We’ve learned a lot thru the years and have come to appreciate all these stories and experiences,” they add. “The journey was the destination, all along.”

Greetings From California is very much an album of two halves. The first half is bright, buoyant pop rock, made with the band’s trusted long-time collaborator Eric Valentine, whose production credits include Queens Of The Stone Age and Taking Back Sunday.

The second half heads back to the seventies for inspiration, soaking up the breezy feel of classic pop. For those songs, the brothers worked with producer Joe Chiccarelli, known for his work with Elton John, Weezer and Morrissey.

Alongside ‘U R’ with Ziggy Marley, the bonus material includes a new take on ‘Jealousy (All Your Friends In Silverlake)’ with Eyedress, and a live recording of ‘We Are Done’ captured on the Motel Du Cap tour.

The full Greetings From California tracklisting, including the three bonus tracks is:

01. Dear Jane (Intro)
02. Dear Jane
03. Brixton
04. Out Of My Mind
05. We Are Done
06. U R
07. Jealousy (All Your Friends In Silverlake)
08. Love Pretenders
09. California Rain (Intro)
10. California Rain
11. Brother
12. Bad
13. Good Gracious Abbey
14. Suddenly
15. Empty Spirits
16. U R (Featuring Ziggy Marley)
17. Jealousy (All Your Friends In Silverlake) (With Eyedress)
18. We Are Done (Live From The Motel Du Cap Tour)

Vinyl collectors are also catered for. A limited-edition 2LP version of Greetings From California, featuring the three bonus tracks and brand new cover art, will be available at participating independent record shops on Record Store Day Black Friday, Friday 27 November.

The re-release lands just as Good Charlotte head across the Atlantic for their Motel Du Cap EU/UK Tour, which we first reported back in May.

Old friends Yellowcard join them as special guests, with Los Angeles band Grave Secrets opening on every date. The tour kicks off at Hovet in Stockholm on 8 November, takes in The O2 in London on 19 November, and wraps up at Co-op Live in Manchester on 30 November.

The Good Charlotte Motel Du Cap EU/UK Tour dates are:

8 November – Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
11 November – Zenith, Munich, Germany
13 November – Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
14 November – Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Düsseldorf, Germany
16 November – AFAS Live, Amsterdam, Netherlands
17 November – Zenith Paris La Villette, Paris, France
19 November – The O2, London, England
30 November – Co-op Live, Manchester, England

More touring plans are set to be announced soon.

The tour follows a big year for the band. In 2025, Good Charlotte released Motel Du Cap, their first new album in seven years and their eighth full-length record, which saw them return to their pop-punk roots.

Single ‘Rejects’ became their highest-charting entry on the Top 10 Alt Radio Singles Chart, peaking at number 7. The album drew strong reviews too, with Rolling Stone praising its relentless energy and CLASH pointing to the authenticity that runs through it.

The band also mounted a full-scale television campaign, with performances and appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Good Morning America and the season finale of American Idol.

Good Charlotte formed in high school in suburban Maryland, and three decades on the line up of twin brothers Joel Madden (vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar, vocals), Paul Thomas (bass) and Billy Martin (guitar, keyboards) is still going strong.

To date they have sold more than 11 million albums worldwide, racked up billions of streams and earned seven RIAA certifications. They have also scored six Top 10 Alt Radio singles and four Top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

Their catalogue includes enduring anthems such as ‘Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous’ and ‘The Anthem’, while 2002’s The Young And The Hopeless was named by Rolling Stone among the 50 greatest pop punk albums of all time.

With Greetings From California finally back where fans can hear it, and a run of arena shows on the way, Good Charlotte are ending the year on a high.