Simon RushworthSong
Hero (That Was Then, This Is Now)
Artist
Little Angels
Little Angels backstory
Bursting on the scene in the late 80s — alongside fellow Brit rockers Thunder, Quireboys, Gun and more — Little Angels didn’t need long to take on the world.
If mini album Too Posh To Mosh made a significant ripple in rock and roll circles then gutsy debut Don’t Prey For Me made waves nationwide.
By the time album number two — Young Gods — dropped in 1991, Little Angels had become the biggest of deals.
And two years later the critically acclaimed Jam hit number one in the UK Top 40. Just a year later the band split.
A brief 2012 comeback — including a standout show at Download — increased calls for a fully-fledged return.
But fans have been forced to wait another 14 years for the stars to align with the classic line-up of vocalist Toby Jepson, Bruce Dickinson (guitar), Jim Dickinson (keyboards), Mark Plunkett (bass) and Mark Richardson (drums) finally back where they belong.
Alongside their own sold-out headline tours, Little Angels famously shared stages with giants of the hair metal era, including Van Halen, Guns N’ Roses, Faith No More, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, Bryan Adams and Bon Jovi.
And November’s run of headline shows look set to roll back the years… and hint at an exciting future.
In frontman Toby Jepson’s own words
“Lyrically the challenge was always going to be, how do you take what Little Angels represented back then and bring it into the modern world with guys that are now in their mid 50s?
“We discussed what the past meant to us and the penny dropped.
“This wasn’t about youth anymore, of course not, it’s about reflecting on where we had come from, and the kind of people we are now.
“And all of a sudden, it made sense — this is about returning home.”
The verdict on Hero (That Was Then, This Is Now)
Little Angels always had a happy knack for matching earworm melodies to lyrics that really mattered: they had their target audience down to a tee.
Relatable, reliably raucous and always ready to take a chance, Toby Jepson and his buddies made the art of crafting singalong hit singles look easy.
A red-hot run of 12 Top 50 tunes between 1989 and 1994 spanned hair metal’s peak thru to grunge’s unforgiving takeover.
And Hero (That Was Then, This Is Now) stands tall alongside any of the ‘classics’.
Its feelgood vibe seamlessly fuses the past with the future — the diary-styled video clip capturing Little Angels’ journey from happily retired national favourites to 2026’s undisputed comeback kings.
There’s a sense of community, connection and unbridled optimism running through a track that captures the camaraderie that’s always existed between the band and their fans.
Hero (That Was Then, This Is Now) is, in many ways, a joyous, a heartfelt thanks to those who’ve been there from day one.
But it’s a sparkling return to form that’s quite capable of hooking in the next generation… and likely to fuel fresh calls for a first full studio album since 1993’s chart-topping Jam.
What’s next for Little Angels
The band embarks on a full UK and Ireland headline tour — with Thunder’s Luke Morley in support — from November 9.
The five-track Big Bad & Back EP is released on November 6.
Little Angels’ first new material in 32 years will be available on vinyl, CD and to stream/download.
