Tony Hadley on his latest big band tour, becoming a grandad - and his favourite Nottingham curry house

LYNETTE PINCHESS talks to the former Spandau Ballet frontman and 80s heartthrob, who brings his Christmas tour to the Royal Concert Hall on December 16

- LYNETTE PINCHESS

ONE minute he’s on posters adorning the walls of thousands of adoring teenage fans, the next he’s a grandad.

Even though he turned 65 at the beginning of this month, Tony Hadley, the former lead singer with 80s heartthrobs Spandau Ballet, is a very, very busy man.

After a year of performing in Australia, song-writing, recording albums, singing with a rock band on a cruise, summer festivals, a ten-date European tour, he'll be rounding 2025 off with the Christmas Big Band Tour, with the penultimate gig in Nottingham.

And in 2026 he hopes to take the big band tour over to America.

He said: “We did a swing tour last year, which sold out and went down brilliantly, which was great. This time we've called it the big band tour, just because it gives me a little bit more latitude.

“We do four Spandau songs like Gold and Only When You Leave but when you put the brass in they become big band songs - and they sound fantastic.”

Fans can expect a bit of Elvis, Jack Jones’ The Impossible Dream, classics such as Fly Me to the Moon, and That's Life as well as a few Christmas tunes too at the Royal Concert Hall on December 16.

Aside from music, Tony's other big love is food. As soon as we get going on our Zoom interview, he explains his red cheeks are a result of having an impromptu barbecue in the sun the day before and on the subject of his recent gigs on the Sky Princess cruise to Spain, he starts by saying they had a great Italian meal on board.

Performances on Top of the Pops decades ago have been replaced by appearances on TV food shows.

“I did Jimmy's Farmhouse Breakfast and that was fantastic. I did a cooking show with James Martin the other week. He’s brilliant. Then there was Sunday Brunch. I do love those kind of shows because I love chefs. I think they’re amazing people, and I love food... you get a glass of wine thrown in as well.”