Of course, I’ll keep playing. What else am I going to do?
Midge Ure on why his show must go on
Midge Ure has vowed never to quit as he kicks off his new tour on his 64th birthday.
But the former Ultravox frontman admits he was shocked by last week’s death of American rocker Tom Petty, who suffered a fatal cardiac arrest.
“Most people retire from dull jobs to do something they enjoy but what the hell would I find that’s as good as this?” he said.
“Absolutely nothing. It doesn’t make any sense for me to retire. As long as I’m healthy and I still have a desire to do this I’m giving none of this up at all.
“I still have the ability and writing new material isn’t a hardship, it’s a hobby.
“It’s always horrible when you hear about somebody dying. But when it happens to someone like Tom at 66 – just a couple of years older than I am – that’s really frightening.
“It hits home. In his case, it wasn’t abuse, drugs or alcohol, just something that can happen to anybody walking down the street.
“That’s scary and it puts you in touch with your own mortality. But it’s not going to stop me doing what I do. I still want to be writing music and getting out there to play.”
The new tour opens at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Tuesday and has dates in Edinburgh and Dundee later this month.
He’ll be playing his mostloved hits If I Was, Fade To Grey and Vienna and the tour also features Altered Images and The Christians.
Midge – who has four daughters Molly, Kitty, Ruby and Flossie – will enjoy the birthday treat of having wife Sheridan with him for the day.
“I’ll probably spend it wandering round my favourite guitar shops and then doing whatever Sheridan wants.
“I’ve probably done 100 gigs this year all over the world, so I am away a lot. But now that our youngest is 18, it gives Sheridan the flexibility to jump on a plane and come with me.”