JIMMY Barnes and Richie Sambora have a shared history. One of blasting rock’n’roll, adorning crowds, ultimately, good times.
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Back in 2001 Barnes joined Sambora’s former band Bon Jovi at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium to perform Good Times, the song he once sang with INXS.
And with the inaugural Under The Southern Stars festival coming to Tuncurry in January there’s a strong chance you could relive Good Times as Barnes and Sambora will co-headline the festival.
“He [Sambora] and Jon [Bon Jovi] have been big supporters over the years and he’s a great guitar player and I’ve seen him a million times, so I’m looking forward to having the chance to see him play as a solo performer,” Barnes says.
“I’ve never seen him solo. Hopefully we can get together and do a few things.
“We played Good Times and Ride The Night Away together a few times.”
Barnes and Sambora’s friendship actually goes back much further than 2001. The Cold Chisel frontman first met Sambora during Bon Jovi’s halcyon days in the ‘80s.
“Ritchie and I are old mates,” he says. “Years ago when I was playing in San Francisco that’s when Bon Jovi busted loose and really hit it big in America.
Jimmy Barnes headlines Under The Southern Stars at Tuncurry’s Harry Elliott Oval on January 6.
“I remember being at a show and they dragged me up to sing with them and we did a Creedence song.
“I jumped up and just about blew their monitors up and we’ve been friends ever since.”
At 61 and with almost 45 years in the music industry behind him, most people wouldn’t blame Barnes for easing the accelerator. But the gravel-voiced icon is busier than ever.
His second memoir Working Class Man is a best seller, the collaboration with The Wiggles, Och Aye the G'nu, won an ARIA last month for Best Children’s Album and Cold Chisel’s triumphant return to Newcastle for the Supercars was a raging success.
I’d have to say the show was great, but the audience was one of the best audiences I’ve played to.
- Jimmy Barnes
Several weeks later Barnes is still buzzing from the experience of playing in front of more than 20,000 punters at Foreshore Park.
“I’d have to say the show was great, but the audience was one of the best audiences I’ve played to,” Barnes says. “They were incredible.
“Given they had been out all day watching the cars, yelling and drinking and all that stuff, they were incredibly responsive.”
Josh Leeson
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
