Big V: INXS star Jon Stevens reveals how near death experienced changed his life forever
Rock icon Jon Stevens says it took a near-death experience to force him to get his act together in life. Now, he’s releasing his first solo album in seven years, embracing his “last quarter” and reveals why he feels he hasn’t yet reached his peak.
It was back in 2009 when Jon Stevens recalls having the “ultimate get your shit together” moment.
The effervescent singer underwent emergency open heart surgery and spent a month in hospital recovering and pondering what he’d just survived. He then had to take six months off from doing what he loved.
“It took that long before I could actually sing a note,’’ Stevens said.
“I really shouldn’t be here but I am, and I’m grateful for that every day.
“It’s extended into my music and it’s the way I approach life nowadays. I didn’t have grandchildren in 2009 and I do recall thinking ‘oh my god, I’m never going to meet my grandkids’.
“It was something I gave thought to. Life has a way of working out and I’m still going strong.”
Now at 64, the rock icon who rose to stardom with Noiseworks and INXS, is feeling and singing better than ever.
He has just released his first solo album in seven years called Shimmer which is a testament to his enduring resilience and passion.
And he’s still hitting the road and busting out the rock n roll vibes, headlining The Summer of Love Rockfest, with Wolfmother and The Screaming Jets, at Margaret Court Arena on February 14. During this concert he’ll perform the much loved Noiseworks and INXS collection.
“I’m under no illusion I’m in the last quarter,’’ Stevens said.
“I say that and I embrace that with everything I can because that’s life. If I get to live another 10, 20 years, I’m going to be so happy. Especially if I’ve got my marbles. My oldest sister has lost hers with dementia so that’s really sad.
“I’m in a great place in my life. Kids are great, grandkids are great, playing music is great, my personal life is amazing and I’m just a happy guy. I’m not sure if I’m still meant to be a tortured artist — I am to some degree — but when you’ve done it all and you’ve got kids, you know what’s important and more than anything it is to stay alive as long as you can.”
Stevens is the youngest of 11 children and has two children of his own, and three grandchildren who are the light of his life.
He wrote the new album with some members of Rod Stewart’s band across LA and Australia from late 2023 through to 2024.
“I had time to reflect on song, reflect on lyrics and what I wanted to say,’’ Stevens said.
“It’s a complete record for me. As a solo artist it really is.
“It might be album No.15, I don’t know, I haven’t counted. I have a tendency to look forward, not back. I get excited about what I’m doing at the time and the now. As much as I’m heavily ensconced in my back catalogue because people want to hear what they grew up with and I’m very ok with that, that’s what’s gotten me to this point.
“But I’m very much thinking about what I’m doing now. I get that playing all the Noiseworks songs, the INXS songs, it’s not even nostalgia, it’s just a joy from playing those songs people know and love, and which I know and love. A lot of the stuff I wrote or co-wrote. It’s just one of those things where you’re constantly evolving.
“I put my first record out in 1979. I feel like I’m a kid in a candy store really. I still get a lot of joy from doing it. From creating and from performing, I love performing and I feel like I’m singing now better than I ever have. It sounds arrogant but it’s just a fact. It’s because I have joy for it and I’m joyous about the experience of performing.
“I’m a fan of things that make people happy.”
One thing that has made Stevens smile endlessly, is his long-term relationship with Heloise Pratt, the philanthropist daughter of late Visy billionaire Richard Pratt and wife Jeanne.
The private couple rarely speak about each other but Stevens graciously obliged when asked what Heloise, a mum of three, means to him.
“She’s the best thing that ever happened to me, really,’’ Stevens said.
“She inspires me of course, I love her to bits. She’s an amazing human. She does amazing things for people in her own way and her selflessness and her desire and commitment to helping others is similar to what I do with music. It’s about providing that escape and helping people disappear from whatever they’re going through and losing themselves in the moment, as said by the great Eminem.
“Her philanthropy and charitable efforts are legendary, so I’m very lucky to be with such an incredible woman.”
It might sound cliche but Stevens is still having the time of his life on stage and in the depths of music creativity.
In a matter of fact way he says “it’s a crazy world out there” but finding joy is simple.
“We’re bombarded every day and every minute with this online bullshit, politics and violence. We’re all just over it, and I’m over all that stuff too,’’ Stevens said.
“Can somebody please put some positivity back in the world … I do it through music and anyone who comes to my shows will have a cracking good time because we provide an escape from the bullshit.”
As for himself, away from the stage, Stevens gets heart check ups every few months and is determined to keep his health scare and any other negativity in the rear vision mirror.
“Because I’ve tasted death I love being alive so I just grab it at every opportunity,’’ he said.
“I feel like I haven’t reached my peak at all.
“After all these years and all the things I’ve done, I don’t really look backwards.
“I’m a people pleaser but I’m also an artist and I love to create so I stay in the moment.
“I’m not really defined by my past or my future, I’m just me — grandad, father, bandmate, partner.
“To play music and to be with the ones you love most … I’m very, very lucky.
“That’s all I can say, I’m really lucky to still be doing what I love and to still love doing it.
“It’s weird but it sounds really f---ing boring actually, but there’s nothing deep and meaningful about anything else aside from the fact that life is to be enjoyed.”
Jon Stevens’ new album Shimmer is out now and The Summer of Love Rockfest is on February 14 at Margaret Court Arena.
Originally published as Big V: INXS star Jon Stevens reveals how near death experienced changed his life forever
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