IT’S a long way from Amarillo to Ahiohill or Ahakista, but singer Tony Christie is sure to attract West Cork fans for his show in Cork Opera House on Thursday January 25th.
Now aged 80, the singer gained global success – twice – with his smash single ‘Is This The Way To Amarillo?’ and songs like ‘Las Vegas’, ‘I Did What I Did For Maria’ ‘Avenues & Alleyways’, and ‘Walk Like A Panther’ have guaranteed his place with the big hitters.
The Sheffield star has worked with everyone from Burt Bacharach to Jarvis Cocker to Roisin Murphy to Imelda May, which has helped attract fans across the decades. And he promises a special night in Cork.
‘I’m really looking forward to the Cork show. It’s going to be a great night,’ he told The Southern Star. ‘Unfortunately I won’t be able to get time out to enjoy West Cork because the tour brings me straight to Dublin the following night. But I think it’ll be a great night in Cork.’
His grá for Irish audiences isn’t an act: real name Anthony Fitzgerald, Tony’s grandparents emigrated to the UK from Mayo in 1918, and they brought a love of music with them.
‘They would come over every Sunday, and my father used to play the squeeze box and my mother used to play violin. They would play traditional Irish songs and I would stand up on a stool and sing for them. They’d give me sixpence for it. It was my first paid gig!’
Tony’s memories of those days are warm and vivid. But he received a dementia diagnosis three years ago, a huge personal setback.
‘I like to do cryptic crosswords and had done for 50 years but I noticed I was forgetting things. So I said it to my wife and she said let’s get it checked out. The doctor did tests and he told me I had the start of dementia.
‘He put me on very strong tablets and I try to carry on as normal. I treat it just like I treat the flu.’
He may brush it off as ‘like the flu’ but Tony’s candid ability to talk about his diagnosis openly has been an inspiration.
‘People have stopped me in the supermarket or in the shop and thanked me for doing it. They say they or their family were able to come out and tell people they had dementia after hearing me tell my story,’ he says.
‘But people should be able to come out, and people accept it. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.’
Undeterred by his diagnosis, Tony’s aptly-named new album We Still Shine comes out next month.
‘It was recorded in Nashville last June and I really believe it’s my best album,’ says Tony. ‘We had some great musicians on it, some of the best Nashville studio musicians. ‘I’m really proud of this record.’
• Tony Christie plays the Cork Opera House on Thursday January 25th at 8pm. See www.corkoperahouse.ie
