Jimmy Barnes has announced that he’ll be unable to perform live for the next few months due to undergoing surgery.
The legendary rocker can no longer fulfil his upcoming tour dates as he needs to undergo back and hip surgery.
“I’ve been jumping off PA’s and stomping around stages for nearly 50 years, but it’s finally caught up with me,” Barnes explained in a statement. “I’ve had niggling back and hip issues for years, but things suddenly got a lot worse over the last few weeks and I’m now in constant and severe pain.
“As everybody knows, it’s against my religion to blow out gigs but the doctors tell me I need an operation as soon as possible and it will really limit my movement for a few months. As much as it kills me to inconvenience everyone, I have to get this fixed so I can jump around onstage for another 50 years.”
Barnes will cease touring following his headline show at VALO Adelaide 500 this Saturday, December 3rd, which will go ahead as planned. He’ll then take the summer off to undergo the essential surgery and also have the necessary time to recover properly.
Barnes added that he’s confident of returning to touring in the second half of next year. In the meantime, ticket holders for his affected shows (excluding Bluesfest) will be contacted via email by the event promoters. Further information will also be posted on the websites of each individual show.
Hoodoo Gurus will luckily be stepping in as replacements for Barnes for his Wollongong, Torquay, and Rochford Wines shows early next year.
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“I’m very grateful that the Gurus have agreed to headline these three big gigs in my absence,” Barnes said. “We played some great shows together last summer so I know audiences will be in good hands. Their addition to the top of the Wollongong, Torquay and Rochford line-ups also means that the other bands on the bill, like The Living End, Wolfmother and Noiseworks, will still get their chance to rock.
“That’s important for everyone after all the disrupted touring over recent years so I strongly encourage people to #keepyourticket and support some of our finest Aussie artists at these shows.”
Other replacements have been found for Barnes’ spot at Summernats 35 in Canberra in January in the form of longtime friends Jon Stevens, Daryl Braithwaite and Diesel.
For a full list of the new Barnes touring schedule, check here.
In better news for Barnes fans, the singer-songwriter’s new album, Blue Christmas, was released last week. It’s his first-ever collection of festive songs.
For more on this topic, follow the Live Music Observer or the Classic Rock Observer.
