‘Is This the Way to Amarillo?’ became a hit twice: once in the 1970s and again in the 2000s. Did you ever expect it to have such lasting popularity? No, it came as great surprise. I thought my touring career in the UK had finished. I was still touring the rest of the world but not the UK. My wife said ‘let’s go and live in Spain’ as we had a house there and I was happy playing golf in shorts and enjoying the sunshine. I was quite happy touring in mainland Europe and places like Australia and New Zealand, so I never thought that I would end up coming back to live here and tour regularly again. It was lovely to be able to spend more time with my grandkids too.

 

What was it like working with Neil Sedaka and other great songwriters throughout your career? I’ve been blessed to work with some of the greatest songwriters in the world. Mitch Murray and Peter Callander were my producers and co-wrote most of my big hits like ‘Las Vegas’, ‘I Did What I Did For Maria’ and ‘Don’t Go Down To Reno’. They produced the Neil Sedaka song that he sent to me which became a big hit all over the world. Later in my career I was send a song by Jarvis Cocker which became a top 10 hit in 1999 called ‘Walk Like A Panther’. It’s a great song with a typical quirky Jarvis lyric but it’s the song that I always open the show with and gets everyone going from the off.

 

Your voice has remained powerful over the decades. How do you maintain it, and has your approach to singing changed over the years? I’ve been very lucky. My voice is as good as ever. God gave me a voice and I’ve managed to look after it and keep it. I have lowered the keys of the songs I sing live but that’s a natural thing to do as you get older. Your voice gets deeper. The fans say they prefer my voice now that I’m not always screaming it out. There’s more light and shade and I am enjoying performing now more than ever before.

 

You’ve had success across multiple generations. How do you see your music evolving with new audiences? I see three generations at my live shows. The grandparents come along with their kids and their grandkids and they all know the words to my songs. It’s amazing to see. I released a new album last year called ‘We Still Shine’ and I did a tour of Ireland to promote it. At the concert in Dublin I saw two young kids singing the words to the new songs. The album had only just been released and I couldn’t remember the lyrics without my autocue so I was completely blown away.

 

You’ve worked in various genres, including pop, rock and country. Do you have a favourite? No, I just love singing and performing live. I’ve got the greatest band of musicians who make it sound amazing, so I tend to mix it up and play everything from my pop hits, to country, to standards and a little bit of swing too. My favourite all time singer was Sinatra so I always sing one of his as my tribute to him.

 

Looking back, what was the biggest turning point in your career? That would be performing at the Blackpool Opera House in 1968 with my band Tony Christie & The Trackers and being discovered by Harvey Lisberg who, at the time, was managing Herman’s Hermits. He said ‘I want to sign you and I will get you a big deal’. He did. I signed to MCA and the rest is history.

 

Do you have a favourite venue or a particularly memorable concert experience? I love playing the Royal Albert Hall and of course the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury stands out as great gig.

 

Many people associate you with the UK music scene, but have other cultures or artists influenced your work? My grandparents came over from County Mayo in Ireland. My grandmother played the fiddle and my grandfather the harmonium (squeezebox) with Ceilidh bands around South Yorkshire.

 

Do you have any new projects in the pipeline? I am currently recording ‘The Great Irish Song Book: Volume Two’ with Ranagri. We plan to release that in August and will do a few tour dates together to promote it.

 

Do you have any secrets that fans might be surprised to learn? I was a train spotter as a kid. I used to go onto Doncaster station to train spot. I once stood on the footplate of the Mallard when I was about 10 years old.

 

If you could go back in time and give young Tony Christie one piece of advice, what would it be? Ooh, I’ve had to learn a lot of lessons the hard way... never trust a person who smiles all the time.