‘MY GRANDKIDS SAVED ME!’
The working class man is all about his family
Aussie rocker Jimmy Barnes is more likely to have a baby than a mic in his hands these days – and that’s just the way the 65-year-old singer likes it!
“Cousins everywhere, try wrangling this lot for dinner,” the star gushed on Instagram recently, alongside a snap of seven of his 15 grandchildren, who lovingly call him “Da”.
“That’s what life’s all about here,” he added, clearly relishing his role as grandpa.
Indeed, after overcoming his fourdecade battle with drug and alcohol addiction, which Jimmy admits left his children – David Campbell, 48, Mahalia, 39, Elly-may, 32, Eliza-jane, 37, and Jackie Barnes, 35 – “traumatised”, these days the family have never been closer.
“I love being a grandfather. I try to spend as much time with them as I can. I like to travel with them. Go to the beach, eat great food. Watch movies, play games,” says the star, who shares that grandparenthood trumps parenting hands down.
“As a grandfather, I’m more secure, both financially and emotionally, and when the kids panic I can be around to say, ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff,’” says the Cold Chisel frontman, who’s been sober for 20 years this year.
“You can actually enjoy the process of your grandchild even more than your children, because you’re not panicking trying to look after them.
“And everybody says you can give your grandkids back. I don’t ever want to give grandkids back. You want to keep them all the time.”
This year also marks an amazing 41 years of marriage with wife Jane, 63.
“We’ve been through hell and high water together,” reveals Jimmy – who’s currently in rehearsals for the Red Hot Summer Tour of regional Australia – of the couple’s long-lasting relationship.
“The ups, downs, highs, lows. It’s about work, and about changing.”
But Jane says they’re now enjoying the fruits of their labour – especially their family.
“We had our children early,” says the doting mother and grandmother, who welcomed Mahalia at 25. “I’m glad we did that in the end because I’ve got all the grandchildren... we can still lift them up... give them piggybacks.”