Bruce Hornsby Returns with "Indigo Park"

Three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and pianist Bruce Hornsby is back with a 10-song album, Indigo Park. Known for his breezy, jazzy style, the artist also has some added treats for fans. The title track was released as the album’s first single in early February. The album drops on April 3, 2026.

The full track list reveals an impressive slate of collaborators that includes Bonnie Raitt, Blake Mills, Ezra Koenig, bassist Pino Palladino, Chris Dave, and late Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, who co-wrote two songs before he passed away in 2019. Also heard on the album is the late Bob Weir, guitarist and a founding member of the Dead, who died in January 2026.

Indigo Park comes on the heels of the attention given to the Grateful Dead’s legacy following the death of Weir. Hornsby has a longstanding kinship with the legendary group. As a special guest of the band, Hornsby played the accordion or synthesizer at shows in 1988 and 1989. He also stepped in as a de facto member of the Dead from 1990 to 1992 after the death of keyboardist Brent Mydland. Hornsby played more than 100 shows with the band.

Hornsby’s involvement even drew Deadheads to his own live shows. “The Way It Is” singer once commented, “I’ve always liked the group of fans that we’ve drawn from the Grateful Dead time, because those fans are often adventurous music listeners.” In 1994, he was the presenter when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and participated in Comes a Time, a 2005 tribute concert to Jerry Garcia.

“Indigo Park” was inspired by an incident that occurred at a 10th-grade party at the Indigo Park Pool in Hornsby’s hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia, when a “great big entrance” didn’t go as planned. Bonnie Raitt is featured on the track “Ecstatic,” and Bob Weir (his final recording) can be heard singing a duet with Hornsby on “Might as Well Be Me, Florinda.”

According to Hornsby, all of his collaborations with lyricist Robert Hunter (who co-wrote the songs “Alabama” and “Might as Well Be Me, Florinda”) happened remotely. He explains, “I never saw him. No. Not once. I’d tell him, ‘Hey, I’m coming to town to play so-and-so in the San Francisco area.’ He’d write me something that said, ‘I only go out for doctor’s visits now. I hardly ever leave the house. I can’t.’ Anyway, I hardly knew him. These five songs are what we did. I cherish that remote relationship.”

Regarding the song he recorded with Weir, Bruce said in his tribute to the Grateful Dead legend, “This hits hard. We just worked together in 2025 on some new music and had a joyful time with it. This piece, a song I wrote with Robert Hunter, will stand as our mutual final collaboration, and I will always cherish it, along with all the times we played together through the years, from 1988 until last year.”

The 71-year-old formed Bruce Hornsby and the Range in 1984. In addition to Indigo Park, 2026 will mark the 40th anniversary of The Way It Is.