New Order have announced that Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert will not be touring with the band “for the foreseeable future”.
- READ MORE: “It felt like we were changing the world”: inside New Order’s seminal ‘Power, Corruption & Lies’
The Manchester band confirmed the news in a statement on social media today (June 29), in which they said the decision had been made “due to personal health reasons”, without going into any further detail.
Morris was the drummer in Joy Division alongside Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Ian Curtis, and the remaining members formed New Order after Curtis’ death in 1980. Gilbert joined shortly afterwards, becoming a defining part of the band’s move from post-punk into electronic music.
The news marks a major change to New Order’s live incarnation, which has been centred around Sumner, Morris and Gilbert since the band returned in 2011 without founding bassist Hook.
New Order are very happy to be playing Primavera in Chile in November marking the band’s first performance there in seven years.
Due to personal health reasons, Stephen and Gillian won’t be touring for the foreseeable future and will not be joining for this show. Bernard, Phil… pic.twitter.com/3Vo8bB9fl2
— New Order (@neworder) June 29, 2026
Hook left New Order in 2007, later becoming involved in a long-running legal dispute with Sumner, Morris and Gilbert over ownership of assets and the use of the New Order name. A “full and final settlement” was reached in 2017, but relations have remained strained.
Speaking during a recent appearance on YouTube show Rock Daydream Nation, Hook said he had already heard that Morris and Gilbert were leaving New Order.
“Barney is touring in New Order on his own this year, because Stephen and Gillian have left, that’s what I’ve heard,” he said. “So now Barney is New Order. Which is quite interesting. He’s actually booked a gig in Chile that he will be playing as the only member of New Order, which is quite rich.”
New Order are due to perform at Festival Fauna Primavera in Santiago, Chile in November. At the time of writing, they have not confirmed who will play with Sumner in Morris and Gilbert’s absence.
The band’s most recent touring line-up has featured Sumner, Morris, Gilbert, guitarist Phil Cunningham and bassist Tom Chapman.
The line-up change comes during a significant year for New Order and Joy Division, who are due to be inducted together into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame later this year. Curtis, Gilbert, Hook, Morris and Sumner have been named as the inducted members, but earlier this year, Hook told Rolling Stone he did not plan to stand alongside his former bandmates at the ceremony.
“No. No. Not after what they did to me and my family, no,” he said. “I won’t stand with them. No. I couldn’t give a shit [how it would work]. I’m not bothered. You’ve got to have morals.”
“There’s a lot of bad blood under that very big bridge,” Hook added.
However, he has also joked that Oasis could potentially stage peace talks between the estranged bandmates, saying: “Maybe Liam and Noel could be the intermediaries that you’re looking for. They might be like, ‘OK, you two. Let’s shake hands and get up there and play ‘Transmission,’ ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart,’ and ‘Blue Monday’.’”
Gilbert previously stepped away from New Order in the early 2000s to care for her daughter, with Cunningham initially joining as her live replacement. She later returned for the band’s 2011 reunion and appeared on their 2015 album ‘Music Complete’, their first without Hook.
In 2020, Kelly Lee Owens told NME that she wanted to see more recognition for Gilbert, calling her a role model and “synth queen”.
“Having Gillian as part of New Order’s line-up in the ’80s and ’90s was iconic,” Owens said. “She was just up there doing her thing, and she looked so cool. She needs to be celebrated as the synth queen she is.”
Morris and Gilbert have also released music together outside New Order as The Other Two. Their debut album, ‘The Other Two & You’, arrived in 1993, followed by ‘Super Highways’ in 1999.
Earlier this year, New Order announced ‘The Best & The Rest Of New Order’, a remastered collection featuring classic singles alongside rare and previously unreleased remixes. It is set for release on July 17.
Joy Division also recently announced ‘Eternal’, a huge new live recordings box set featuring 14 CDs and two DVDs. The set, due out on September 30, collects live material from the band’s short but hugely influential career.