Powderfinger’s reunion plot kept under wraps for 15 months

Key points

• Australian rock band Powderfinger has revealed it kept its reunion secret for more than a year. Talks ran for about 15 months in a WhatsApp group under the fake name The Return of the Electric Horsemen.
• Only 10 people knew of the plan. Reunion rumours began in October with a new Instagram account using the same name as a track on the band's 1996 album Double Allergic.
• Frontman Bernard Fanning said the band brought its announcement forward after fans quickly decoded cryptic billboards. The members said their children, many of whom never saw them perform, helped change their minds.