Jimmy Barnes

Rock icon and bestselling author, Jimmy Barnes, is about to head out on the road for the final leg of the Working Class Boy: An Evening of Stories & Songs tour and today he announced the very last ‘Stories & Songs’ show will be at Sydney’s State Theatre on 12 April 2017.

With recently announced encore shows in Sydney at the Enmore Theatre and Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre in Penrith now SOLD OUT, this final State Theatre show will be the last chance to experience Jimmy telling stories from his #1 bestseller, Working Class Boy, live on stage.  This final show will be filmed for future film and television broadcast and promises to be an extra special event.

The ‘Stories & Songs’ shows see Jimmy Barnes, surrounded on stage by his children Mahalia and Jackie and son-in-law Ben Rodgers, bring the book to life, while baring his heart and soul. The shows have received unanimous rave reviews including:

“A powerful, deeply emotional and transformative production” – The Daily Telegraph

“A sophisticated and very moving piece of storytelling” – The Daily Review

“… anyone seeking an emotional, dark, funny, exciting theatrical event — and a powerful singer still in great voice — will be thrilled” – Sunday Mail SA

Fans seeking tickets for Jimmy’s shows are reminded to only buy tickets from the official ticket agents listed at www.jimmybarnes.com/tour-dates/ so as to avoid “reselling” sites who typically advertise heavily online and often mislead consumers into paying much higher prices than necessary. 

Appropriately the tour has been drawing attention to the great work of the Luke Batty Foundation (www.lukebattyfoundation.com.au). In addition to providing relevant information online and at all of his shows Jimmy also encourages everyone to support former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty’s campaign to end family violence by signing up at www.neveralone.com.au

The Working Class Boy audiobook was written and read by Jimmy Barnes and recorded at his home studio and is only available as a digital download from his website (ie: not from any other online stores) here. Click here to listen to a sample.

Following a 2016 filled with firsts and new records, rock icon and bestselling author, Jimmy Barnes, is already gearing up for an even bigger 2017 with new regional shows added to the Working Class Boy: An Evening of Stories & Songs tour in Mackay, Cairns, Darwin, Newcastle, Penrith and Geelong in response to fan requests.

Encore shows have also been added due to overwhelming demand in Sydney (State Theatre) and Melbourne following sell out performances at the Sydney Opera House and Regent Theatre at the end of 2016.

After setting a record with his fifteenth #1 album back in June 2015 and making his debut as a published author in September, Barnes released his first ever spoken word recording in December.

The Working Class Boy audiobook was written and read by Jimmy Barnes and recorded at his home studio and is only available as a digital download from his website (ie: not from any other online stores) here. Click here to listen to a sample.

Since its release, the hard cover version of Working Class Boy has struck a profound chord with both critics and the Australian public. It spent seven weeks at #1 on the national Bookscan charts ending the 10-week reign of mega-authors JK Rowling and Andy Griffiths and was the No. 1 adult title in 2016.

The next shows on the Working Class Boy: An Evening of Stories & Songs tour take Jimmy back to Tasmania for two sold out shows in Launceston as well as a Hobart date which is also close to selling out. From there Jimmy heads across the ditch for 10 shows in New Zealand 

The ‘Stories & Songs’ shows see Jimmy Barnes, surrounded on stage by his children Mahalia and Jackie and son-in-law Ben Rodgers, bring the book to life, while baring his heart and soul. The shows have received unanimous rave reviews including:

“A powerful, deeply emotional and transformative production” – The Daily Telegraph

“A sophisticated and very moving piece of storytelling” – The Daily Review

“… anyone seeking an emotional, dark, funny, exciting theatrical event — and a powerful singer still in great voice — will be thrilled” – Sunday Mail SA

“You know you’ve been to a pretty good gig when the songs of your youth are redefined. That is just what this old Cold Chisel fan is feeling right now after spending a wonderful 150 minutes listening to Australian rock great Jimmy Barnes tell his life story with yarns and song” – The West Australian

Fans seeking tickets for Jimmy’s shows are reminded to only buy tickets from the the official ticket agents listed at www.jimmybarnes.com/tour-dates/ so as to avoid “reselling” sites who typically advertise heavily online and often mislead consumers into paying much higher prices than necessary.

Working Class Boy: An Evening of Stories & Songs has been nominated for Best Cabaret Production in the 2016 Sydney Theatre Awards for Jimmy’s sold out performance at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.  In another first, Jimmy’s son, David Campbell, is also nominated making it the first time a father and son have been nominated for Sydney Theatre Awards in the same year.  The Sydney Theatre Awards are being held tonight at the York Theatre, Seymour Centre.

Appropriately the tour has been drawing attention to the great work of the Luke Batty Foundation (www.lukebattyfoundation.com.au). In addition to providing relevant information online and at all of his shows Jimmy also encourages everyone to support former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty’s campaign to end family violence by signing up at www.neveralone.com.au

Working Class Boy has certainly resonated deeply with Australians of all ages and backgrounds. The book is already onto it’s 4th reprint with Harper Collins Australia confirming that it is the biggest Australian non-fiction debut in the past five years, and the biggest in Harper Collins Australia’s history.

Hi res pictures can be downloaded from here.

Tickets to all new shows go on sale at 10.00am local times on Tuesday, 31 January, 2017.

After a record breaking fifteen #1 albums, Jimmy Barnes can now also say he's a chart topping author. His acclaimed childhood memoir "Working Class Boy" was officially Australia's top selling book last week according to Bookscan. In fact, its debut was the biggest for this sort of title in over five years. In New Zealand, the autobiography was the #1 international non-fiction release.

Jimmy's special live show based on the book is also striking a strong chord on both sides of the Tasman. Working Class Boy: An Evening of Stories & Songs will see Jimmy bringing his autobiography to life on theatre stages across Australasia through a combination of spoken word performance and some music that relates to his life story.

 The Canberra show of this unique tour is now totally sold out with a second and final date at the Canberra Theatre Centre being added on Tuesday, 6 December. Two dates have also been added in Tasmania with shows at Wrest Point Entertainment Centre on Friday, 3 February and the Country Club Showroom in Launceston on Saturday, 4 February.  Tickets are on sale now for Canberra and from 10.00am on Friday, 6 October for the Tasmanian shows.

Tickets for all remaining dates are selling fast and fans are reminded to follow the ticket links here so as to avoid ticket reselling sites which typically sell tickets at much higher prices.

"Both the live show and the book are obviously the most personal projects I've ever done", says Jimmy. "It's amazing to see the way people have responded to the exact things that I've spent a lifetime trying to hide. I'm very grateful that the book and this tour are striking such a chord. Hopefully it might help other people who've been through similar things to share their stories too."

Jimmy has spent this week doing book signings and other retailer events across Australia. These will continue for another fortnight before he goes into rehearsals for the "Stories & Songs" tour. For information about all these book events and the subsequent tour dates please click here www.jimmybarnes.com/tour-dates/

In the meantime, Jimmy has leant his voice to two worthy causes - the Luke Batty Foundation who work to raise awareness about all forms of domestic violence and a new, national television campaign for The Song Room, a national not for profit organisation, aimed at driving funds to buy musical instruments for underprivileged kids.  Three out of four children in Australia do not have access to specialist music education at school and The Song Room provides face to face, long-term music and arts-based programs for children in disadvantaged and high need communities. The Song Room also provides innovative, curriculum-aligned online arts education to over 75% of Australian schools through the free ARTS:LIVE platform.

It's a week of firsts for Jimmy Barnes. Not only is the Oz-rock icon releasing his first ever book, but he’s also announcing his first ever ‘spoken word’ tour throughout November and December.

WORKING CLASS BOY: An Evening of Stories and Songs will see Jimmy leaving behind the arenas and rock gigs where he’s blazed a trail for decades. Instead he will now be telling his life story for the first time on theatre stages across Australia, including special venues like the Sydney Opera House (Concert Hall), Brisbane City Hall and the Regent Theatre in Melbourne.

This unique live event will see Jimmy sharing stories from his troubled childhood and delinquent adolescence. It will also see him delivering intimate musical performances of some key songs drawn from his earliest years. For those who have previously enjoyed his Flesh & Wood acoustic gigs, this tour will be a treat with lots more storytelling providing a real insight into the events that shaped Jimmy's life and his music.

“Just like the book, this live show will tell the story of an imperfect childhood that has led to me becoming an imperfect adult”, explains Jimmy. "I spent most of my life running from my childhood and now it seems like my time to face it. So this is the story of a lifetime spent running away. Running from fear. Running from shame but at the same time running from hope. I’m not running anymore"

This unique live theatrical production is a companion piece to the eagerly anticipated first volume of his memoirs - Working Class Boy. The book was written entirely by Jimmy Barnes. It tells the raw and confronting story of fleeing the poverty of Scotland only to endure violence and abuse as an immigrant in the suburbs of Adelaide. The book explains what drove Jimmy to ultimately escape everything via rock’n’roll and its associated lifestyle. Fittingly, the childhood memoir ends with an 18 year old Jimmy and the fellow members of his new band, Cold Chisel, fleeing South Australia in the back of a truck full of musical equipment.

The hardcover first edition of Working Class Boy will be released nationally by Harper Collins on Monday, 19 September. Jimmy will be doing a number of signings and Q&A style events in association with various booksellers around the country over the following 3 weeks before heading into a month of focused rehearsals for the theatre tour.

WORKING CLASS BOY: An Evening of Stories and Songs will premiere in Victoria in mid-November and wind its way around much of Australia thereafter. 

Please note that in keeping with the nature of this production, the show will be staged over two acts with a short interval. There will be no support band so Jimmy will be onstage from the advertised starting time at all shows.