20 December 2023 , 18:05
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Spandau Ballet legend Tony Hadley happily admits he is an “addictive person”, but if you think that means drugs, you are wrong, as he has always turned his nose up at cocaine and the rest of it.
In a warm and funny chat with the 1980s pop star, he tells me he didn’t dare try any kind of drugs after his fearsome nan warned him against it. Now 63, and reinventing himself as a crooner – a kind of British Tony Bennett – he tells me: “People say to me, ‘You must have taken a line of coke, you’ve been in the music business for years’. But I’ve never taken any drugs.
“I promised my nan I’d never do drugs – and it was kind of like the mafia, my family. I do love a beer and a glass of wine, but you know what, I don’t need to take any drugs. I’m vibe-y enough.” He has also kicked the champagne lifestyle, revealing: “My rider now compared to the 1980s is that I don’t have champagne on it. It gives me heartburn.
“Saying that, we don’t have green tea either – our rider is 48 bottles of beer, three bottles of white, three bottles of red, bottle of vodka and a bottle of Jack.” He will admit to another “vice” – old-fashioned sweets. He says: “I love Jelly Beans, Liquorice Comfits, Jelly Babies.” Tony, who had a final bust-up with Spandau eight years ago, is going out on the road with The Big Swing Tour. He says: “I know I’m 63, but I still feel like I’m 23. I still feel like an idiot. I’m still enjoying life. And I’m singing better than ever.”
Spandau Ballet - Tony Hadley, Gary and Martin kemp, John Keeble and Steve Norman (Getty Images)Looking suave in a black tailored suit, he has performed among Roman ruins and palazzos across Europe, oh, and at one of his favourite UK venues. He says: “We just did Bogner-sur-la-mer, as I call Butlins. It’s become a regular thing for bands to play. It’s brilliant, you get 3,500 people who are just there to party.” In between the gigging, he has been trying to finish off a Greatest Hits Swing album of his favourite classics and some new songs, which will be coming out on vinyl to accompany the Swing tour.
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For fans of a more modern sound, he is working on another new album. He says: “We’ve just got a couple of songs to finish off for the contemporary album, which will be out late next year or early 2025. We’re really pleased with it so far.” He works hard to stay in shape, but keeping fit has been put on hold since a nasty fall last year. He sounds frustrated as he says: “I was just recovering from a major op for osteomyelitis in my femur in my right leg in January 2022 and starting to train again, when I slipped on the floor in Calabria in August.
He's currently working on a new album (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Tony with his children Tom (left) and Toni (right) (PA)“Some idiot allowed the water from the ice to go on the floor. Leg ended up at 10 past 12. It’s been a long recovery.” Health worries haunt Tony since he turned the same age as his dad was when he died. He says: “My dad, Patrick, was an electrical engineer on Fleet Street and had his first heart attack at 53, then died at 63 from a major one – the same age as I am now.
“When I hit 63, it felt so weird. You always think your parents are invincible, and they’re gonna go on forever. So when he died at 63, that was the biggest smack in the face.” He will hope to be more like his mum. He says: “Mum is 91 and still lives round the corner from the family home in Islington. She’s still doing well, going out with her mates.”
Tony’s sister Lee is a qualified surveyor, but also works as a London black cab driver. In awe of his sibling, he says: “The Knowledge is like doing a degree course.” He is a big family guy and regularly sees his mum Josephine and all five of his children for lunch where he lives in Buckinghamshire.
Tony and his mother Josie Hadley at the Shooting Star Chase Ball at The Dorchester on October 3, 2015 (Getty Images Europe)The three children Tony had with his first wife Leonie Lawson are all adults now and he proudly reels off their names, ages and careers. He says: “My eldest son Tom is almost 40 and is a successful estate agent, the other two, Toni, 38, and Mackenzie, 33, work in events.” He has been around more for the children with second wife Ali, 56, who he wed in 2009. His 17-year-old daughter, Zara, wants to be an actress, while the youngest, Genevieve, 11, dreams of being a vet.
He says: “All you want for your kids is to be happy.” Well, that, and for them to tidy their rooms. He says: “Teenagers think they’re right about everything. I shout at the eldest one, Zara. She never tidies her room. I say, ‘I see you’re incredibly clever, but why don’t you just clean up your room. It will take 10 minutes.”
He admits his older children didn’t see him as much at home, especially when he was a tax exile. He says: “Back in the Spandau days, I could be away for four months at a time. Back in the glory days, when tax was ridiculously high.” Once dubbed Tory Tone, the darling of the Right admits he won’t be necessarily be voting Conservative, and even admires Manchester’s Labour mayor.
He says: “One of the few politicians that talks complete sense at the moment is Andy Burnham. I think he’s a really good guy.” Tony is from a big working class family himself and grew up playing in the bomb sites of Islington, North London. It was in his parent’s front room in the 1960s that he fell in love with swing music.
“I’d like to go back to the Rat Pack era in Las Vegas. I’d like to be in a room with Sammy Davis, Dean Martin, Sinatra and all the greats… because it was a brilliant time for music.” After his final tour dates of 2023 in France and Germany, he will return to his country house for a Christmas with the family – and his dachshunds, Martha and Smelly-Lelly.
He says: “We always like to go to church on Christmas morning. And we always go to the local. Last Christmas, my daughter borrowed a couple horses and they trotted up with tinsel and we had a pint with all the kids on the horses in the pub. It was lovely.”
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- Tony Hadley’s The Big Swing Tour begins in the UK in March. For tickets, visit MyTicket.co.uk