From Pop Keyboardist to Physics Communicator: Brian Cox’s New World Tour

Brian Cox, the particle physicist known for bringing space to mainstream audiences, is launching a new world tour called "Emergence." The show, which mixes live presentation and spectacle, had warm-up performances in November in Redditch, England, and will visit places including Singapore, Serbia and Australia before reaching the United States in late 2026.

Cox, 57, began his career as a professional musician, playing keyboards for acts that opened for Jimmy Page and later joining the pop band D:Ream, whose 1994 single reached No. 1 in Britain. He left music to study physics and has since worked at major particle accelerators and taught particle physics at the University of Manchester.

He has become a prominent science communicator through Peabody Award-winning BBC documentaries, podcasts, books and high-profile media appearances. This year the United Nations named him its Champion for Space to promote space as a "force for progress." Cox’s stage show explores subjects from black holes to the origins of space and time, and he has sold out large venues such as the O2 and Wembley Arena.

His performances use visuals and storytelling to explain scientific methods and to encourage critical thinking about how we acquire reliable knowledge. In the era of social-media disinformation, Cox has confronted challenges including hyper-realistic deepfakes.

Key Topics

Science, Brian Cox, Emergence, D:ream, Cern, Deepfakes