Iconic rock legends announce national tour (2024)

Legendary rock band Cold Chisel have reunited to celebrate their 50th anniversary, announcing an Australia-wide tour.

On Wednesday, the Aussie music group thrilled fans when they revealed they'd be touring nationally in October and November.

Dubbed 'The Big Five-0' tour, frontman Jimmy Barnes joins forces with bandmatesIan Moss,Phil Small andDon Walker for 11 shows across the country.

'"The Big Five-0" will be a night like no other. This time, the band isn't touring to promote a new album; they are touring for the best possible reason … "because we all love playing gigs together",' the band said on their Facebook page.

'Their anniversary provides scope for a show that features all the classic songs with which Cold Chisel carved their unique place in Oz Rock history - Khe Sanh, Bow River, Flame Trees, You Got Nothing I Want, When The War Is Over, My Baby, Cheap Wine, Choirgirl, Last Wave Of Summer, Breakfast At Sweethearts, Forever Now and so many more.'

Cold Chisel's tour kicks off October 5 at thePetersons Winery in Armidale, where the band based themselves back in 1974-1975.

They will thenlap around major Australian cities for seven weeks before their final show on November 17 in Adelaide, the city the band formed.

Cold Chisel formed in Adelaide in 1973, with Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboard.

Jimmy joined the band at the end of that year, on lead vocals - he was just 17 at the time.

Blood Moon, the band's ninth studio album, was released in 2019, and they last toured at the beginning of 2020.

It was that year the singer, 68, expressed his doubts over the band ever doing a major tour again.

'I've got a feeling we might be done,' he said onThe Green Room with Neil Griffiths podcast.

'It could be the odd gig here and there for special events or special occasions but I don't see Cold Chisel doing a major tour ever again.'

Jimmy has also been recovering after his recent open heart surgery.

Late last year, the rocker was struck down by a life-threatening infection that attacked his heart and he then underwent open heart surgery.

Reflecting on his health struggles, he admitted he told his wife Jane that he didn't think he was going to make it while lying in Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital.

'I just had this horrible morbid feeling because I've never felt this sick before. I thought I was gone,' he recently told 60Minutes.

Just hours before checking into hospital, an unwell Jimmy had taken to the stage at a memorial concert for his late friend and promoter, Michael Gudinski.

He told how he was so unwell that he can barely remember the show and said he was sweating and had a fever backstage.

'I was really bad. And even though I felt like I could hardly walk, I just had to get there,' he said.

'There was a lot of pain. My back was really sore... I was struggling to walk. I don't know how I got through it. As soon as I came off, I sort of virtually collapsed.'

He was scheduled to fly abroad for a another concert the next morning but instead went to the hospital as his health continued to deteriorate.

A team of specialists discovered his body was shutting down because an infection in his blood was causing endocarditis - a life-threatening inflammation of the heart.

By the time he was wheeled into the operating theatre for open heart surgery, his doctors said he had just hours to live.

In a marathon seven-hour surgery, the physicians successfully replaced his damaged valves and repaired his heart.

Five months on, his recovery has been going well and he recently returned to stage to perform for the first time since his surgery at Bluesfest.