Jimmy Barnes surprised fans by making a huge touring announcement – just weeks after having open heart surgery.
The Scottish-Australian rocker, 67, shared a video with his more than 225,000 followers and announced he’s set to perform at Byron Bay’s Bluefest on March 31, is celebrating the 30th anniversary of his Flesh and Wood album and will hit the road as part of his Hell of a Time national tour.
”I can’t wait to get back on stage, in front of the band and playing for you all,” he said in the clip.
Watch the video above.
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“That’s going to be really great,” he said.
He also thanked fans for their messages of support when he was in hospital late last year amid his health battle.
“I want to thank you all for the support when I was ill, the good wishes,” he said.
He added: “The family were passing on your messages all the time… and it really lifted my spirits.”
The Hell of a Time tour kicks off in June in Western Australia and will wrap up in August at the Sydney Opera House.
Jimmy had open heart surgery at the end of last year and was released from hospital just before Christmas.
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His wife Jane shared the good news that he was going home, on X, writing: “On the 6th Day of Christmas my true love said to me … ‘the doctor says I can go home on Friday'”.
“Jimmy will be home for Christmas, that’s the best present I could ever wish for.”
The Cold Chisel frontman underwent the major operation after a bacterial infection he’d been battling for two weeks spread to his heart.
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”Unfortunately I got some bad news yesterday… despite everyone’s best efforts the bacterial infection I’ve been battling over the last fortnight has apparently now spread to my heart,” Barnes wrote in a statement announcing the surgery.
“It’s infected an otherwise healthy valve that was replaced some years ago due to a congenital defect, so I’ll be getting open-heart surgery over the next few hours to clear out this infection and put in a clean valve.”
Barnes, the father of Today Extra presenter David Campbell, labelled the setback as “hugely frustrating” but said he’s trying to keep perspective as “I know a lot of people are battling even worse things”.
In addition to thanking hospital staff in the statement, the rocker also paid tribute to his wife, thanking her for the “around the clock love and care over the last few weeks in particular”.
“As always I’d be lost without her,” he said.
In November Barnes told fans via Facebook that he needed to cancel planned performances as he was fighting bacterial pneumonia – a condition that sees the air sacs in the lungs fill with fluid.
It had been a year of health woes for Barnes, who was also forced to have emergency back and hip surgery.
Born in Glasgow and moving to Australia as a kid, he left his home aged 17 to join Cold Chisel – and the rest is history.
“Everything that happened to me as a child was the perfect breeding ground for a rock’n’roll singer,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2017, when his memoir Working Class Boy won a biography award at the Australian Book Industry Awards.
“It toughened me up. I was on edge, I was needy, I needed people to like me ’cause it made me feel safe… and that gave me confidence,” he continued.