Jimmy Barnes Withdraws From Tour Dates Due To Surgery

Aussie rock legend Jimmy Barnes has withdrawn from numerous summer dates as he must undergo essential hip and back surgery.

"I've been jumping off PAs and stomping around stages for nearly 50 years, but it's finally caught up with me," the Working Class Man singer said. 

"I've had niggling back and hip issues for years, but things suddenly got a lot worse over the last few weeks, and I'm now in constant and severe pain. As everybody knows, it's against my religion to blow out gigs, but the Doctors tell me I need an operation as soon as possible, and it will really limit my movement for a few months. As much as it kills me to inconvenience everyone, I have to get this fixed so I can jump around onstage for another 50 years."

Barnes is confident that following the surgery, he can retake the stage and hit the road for the second half of 2023.

While his headlining set at the Valo Adelaide 500 will go ahead this Saturday, 3 December, he then must withdraw from his remaining live commitments over the summer to have the surgery and allow time for recovery.

Ticketholders for all upcoming Jimmy Barnes shows (excluding Bluesfest) will be contacted by ticket providers soon - his performance at Coffs Harbour is being rescheduled to 21 October 2023, the new date for Sandstone Point is 5 August 2023, but his Hobart show has regrettably been cancelled due to line-up and venue availability issues. 

Hoodoo Gurus will step in for their mate for Wollongong, Torquay, and Rochford Wines gigs in early 2023, so the shows will go on, albeit with an adjusted line-up. 

"I’m very grateful that the Gurus have agreed to headline these three big gigs in my absence," Barnes said. "We played some great shows together last summer, so I know audiences will be in good hands. Their addition to the top of the Wollongong, Torquay and Rochford line-ups also means that the other bands on the bill, like The Living End, Wolfmother and Noiseworks, will still get their chance to rock. That’s important for everyone after all the disrupted touring over recent years, so I strongly encourage people to #keepyourticket and support some of our finest Aussie artists at these shows."

Barnes won't appear at Summernats 35 in Canberra on Friday, 6 January 2023, but his good mates Jon Stevens, Daryl Braithwaite and Diesel will fill his shoes. Another gig that's been rescheduled is Stranded In The Whitsundays, which has been moved to 23-28 August 2023. The planned Byron Bay Bluesfest unveiling of his new project, The Barnestormers, will not happen in 2023. To find out if your Barnesy gig has been affected, click here.