Jon Stevens declares he will be singing until he dies
Noiseworks frontman Jon Stevens may be nearly 60, but he is not giving up his music career any time soon and tells why he has no intention of slowing down.
NSW
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Jon Stevens says he will continue rocking out until the day he dies.
At 58, the Noiseworks and INXS singer has played more than 130 gigs this year and has no intention of slowing down.
“I want to be the guy sitting on the stool at 80 years of age plucking the guitar singing the blues,” Stevens told Confidential.
“That is how I have always seen myself and I reckon by that time I will be real good because if you are that age and still doing what you love, it is all pure joy.
“I will do this until the day I die.”
Stevens spoke to Confidential to announce his headline performance at the 2020 Longines Golden Slipper Day at Rosehill Gardens on March 21.
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“The past two years have been flat out touring everywhere I can, it has been amazing getting out to every nook and cranny in Australia,” he said.
“I love working, I love playing. If I could do 250 shows a year, I would but you have to have a break.
“I am stronger and better now than I ever was 25 years ago.
“It is bizarre but that is how I feel. Age probably has a lot to do with that and feeling comfortable with yourself and just appreciating life and what I do.
“I don’t get caught up in the rock’n’roll trap. I’ve been there and done that and I want to stay alive.
“I have got two kids, two grandchildren and I am doing everything I can to stay alive for as long as I can to watch them grow.”
The rock’n’roll trap, he clarified is the traditional excesses of “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll”.
“You’ve just got to keep moving in our world,” he said.
“For a number of us, it seems like the history of what we did initially, people still love that stuff.
“It is lovely, actually, because we have touched people’s lives and it feels like you’ve made a difference in people’s lives with your music.”
“Making people happy is my job. I love putting smiles on people’s faces, playing songs that we all know and grew up with. Just to be able to do what I love after all these years continuously.
“I work so much it is not funny and I appreciate that because I have had the lean times as well. You can be flavour of the month one month and then you are not.”
Playing gigs keeps Stevens feeling young and healthy, he said, having lost about 14kg this year due to exercise, eating well and drinking less.
His health has been a priority since 2009, when Stevens underwent double bypass
heart surgery.
“This year I have actually been on a bit of a health kick,” he said.
“It is not like I am a teetotaller, I just went clean and that was good for me. When you are doing that many shows, drinking every day is a trap and as you get older it gets harder obviously.
“I take 10 pills a day for my heart and bloods and all of that stuff. So, yeah, I have a reason to be mindful.”