Train’s Pat Monahan on 25 Years of Drops of Jupiter, New Album Mad Dog in the Fog and Touring with His Son

The Train frontman talks the band's milestone anniversary, his deeply personal new music, the surprising Cher connection that helped launch his career, and watching his 14-year-old son, Rock go viral on tour

From the LifeMinute.tv Team

August 28, 2026

Twenty-five years after Drops of Jupiter became one of Train’s defining albums, Pat Monahan is celebrating the past while keeping his eyes firmly on what’s next.

The multi-GRAMMY Award-winning band is currently on its Drops of Jupiter: 25 Years in the Atmosphere Tour with Barenaked Ladies and Matt Nathanson, ahead of the August 28 release of Train’s 12th studio album, Mad Dog in the Fog.

And this time, Monahan has a special tourmate. “My 14-year-old son is with me, so he's performing every night and going viral on the internet,” Monahan told LifeMinute's editor-in-chief Joann Butler during the Joann Butler in Studio With... interview. 

Of all the songs he has written, Monahan still considers “Drops of Jupiter” the most significant. “Writing that about my mom… for it to connect with people like it has over the years, pretty cool,” he said.

The 2001 hit has since earned RIAA Diamond status and surpassed two billion Spotify streams. Train’s new album, Mad Dog in the Fog, brings Monahan back to the band’s beginnings. Named after a San Francisco bar where Train played for free in its early days, the record traces what he describes as his journey “from Pennsylvania to San Francisco.”

His road to Train almost sounds like a movie itself. While Monahan was playing in a cover band in Erie, Pennsylvania, members of Cher’s touring band happened to catch his set. Cher guitarist David Shelley pulled him aside afterward and told him, “You need to move to LA because you've got the thing.” It was the push Monahan needed to take a chance on music — a decision that would ultimately lead him to Train. 

Monahan also opens up about the deeply personal story behind new song “Pennsylvania Turnpike,” finding his own voice as a songwriter, his upcoming musical Begin Again, and why he believes music can heal, guide and bring people back. 

This is LifeMinute with Train's Pat Monahan.