Harry Connick Jr. to play Glenorchy’s My State Bank Arena for Back Live Australian Tour

The crooning has us swooning. Harry Connick Jr. chats with the Mercury about playing music from a young age, tragedy in his life and why he’s excited to turn it up for Tassie on his upcoming tour.

HARRY CONNICK JR PHOTO by Georgia Connick

The crooning has us swooning.

Harry Connick Jr. is gearing up for a whirlwind tour down under – and he’s making it his mission to play to Tasmanian audiences for the very first time.

In fact, he has never stepped foot in the state, something he says “I’ve wanted to do for a very long time”.

The singer, who has sold 30 million records worldwide and churned out seven top 20 US albums and 10 number one US jazz albums over a four-decade career, will play Glenorchy’s My State Bank Arena on Sunday, December 10.

He promises fans the show will be “extra special”, saying “it’s somewhere we have never been. So expect us to be wide-eyed with excitement.”

Harry jumps on a call with The Mercury, and greets this reporter like his best pal – “Hey man, what’s going on?” Talk about southern hospitality.

The singer, actor and Australian Idol judge was born in New Orleans, Louisiana – the home of jazz.

Harry says if he grew up elsewhere, he doesn’t know what he’d be doing.

Harry Connick Jr Photo: Sasha Samsonova

Born in 1967 to a lawyer/judge mother and a district attorney father, it’s hard to see how music edged its way into Harry’s life.

But his mum, Anita, and dad, Harry Sr.., were huge music fans. They opened a record shop to pay their way through law school.

And in New Orleans, especially its French Quarter, “it’s impossible to escape music,” Harry says.

“Incredible stuff is being played on every street corner. It’s the cool thing about New Orleans – the music just kind of comes to you.

“It’s kind of wild and hard to explain to people who haven’t experienced anything like that. I feel really lucky to have experienced it (growing up in New Orleans), playing with musicians, y’know, who played with Louis Armstrong in the 1930s. Some of these people were actually around when the music was being invented.

“I just feel I was in the right place at the right time.”

And the right time it was. Harry started playing the keys at just three years old, releasing his first record (Dixieland Plus) in 1977 at the age of 10.

Harry Connick Jr. in a 1996 headshot.

Tragically, Harry lost his mother to ovarian cancer when he was 13, something he says “had a huge impact” on the course of his life.

“She was such a champion of my education and musical desires, that I’m sure (after she died) I was trying to reach the highest levels of musicianship and success as I could – because

I knew that’s what she wanted for me,” he says.

Harry Connick Jr touring Australia in the 1990s. Pictured at Sydney Opera House.

And despite all of his success, from best-selling records to appearing in major Hollywood films like Independence Day, Hope Floats and Copycat, Harry says his proudest achievement is his family; wife and former Victoria’s Secret model Jill Goodacre and three daughters; Georgia, Charlotte and Sarah.

“They are the reason I am able to enjoy any of my success,” he says.

Harry Connick Jr. will play My State Bank Theatre at Glenorchy on Sunday, December 10.

Tickets are available through Ticketek.