Tom Jones insists he won’t retire any time soon - but on one condition

15 June 2023, 12:10 | Updated: 10 January 2024, 12:43

His voice is instantly recognisable.

It's indisputable that Tom Jones has one of the best voices in the business, and continues to do so today.

His classic songs such as 'It's Not Unusual', 'Delilah', and 'What's New Pussycat?' certainly wouldn't be as memorable without Sir Tom's uniquely full-throated vocal.

It's fair to say that his voice has been vital to his continued success over the past six decades.

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Recently turning the age of 83, you'd think the Welsh music legend would at least have visions of slowing down and easing into retirement.

But although the 'Sexbomb' singer admitted to not being to "walk around on stage" or shake his hips as much as he was used to, it's his voice that's keeping him from calling it quits.

Jones recently revealed in an interview with the Metro that the only reason he'd choose to retire was if: "I couldn’t sing any more."

His statement will no doubt be music to the ears of his fans, especially as he prepares to head out on his upcoming UK tour at the end of June 2023.

Despite having two hip replacements in recent years he's more careful than ever that he doesn't "burn out", but Sir Tom's incredible voice is still going strong.

"If something went wrong with my vocal ability, I wouldn’t want to go on not in full strength. I wouldn’t like to shortchange an audience" Jones admitted.

"Being old, you can’t do what you used to do. I mean, I can’t walk around like I used to but I wouldn’t want to now."

"When you’re young you’re full of p*** and vinegar and you’re giving it plenty. Now I concentrate more on singing than I do anything else.

"When you’re young, you’re moving around the stage and want to get as much out of it as possible, and you have to be careful you don’t burn out" he added.

"You can fire all your guns at once and that could be a problem. So you’ve got to learn to pace yourself, that’s important."

Asked if he'd introduce artificial intelligence or would sanction a hologram tour as he gets older, Tom replied:

"I’m still able to get up there and do it live. I don’t know, it’s a good question because I’ve never really thought about that."

"If people want to go and see that then fine. If that’s all you’ve got left of that person and you still want to go and see that because it’s a film of a person you love, then… but I haven’t thought about that because I’m nowhere near that."

But it's his passion which is keeping his plugging away, declaring: "You’ve got to love this."

"If you’re going to make a career of this you’ve got to really, really love what you do. It’s not always going to be smooth. You’re going to have ups and downs, and travelling, you’ve got to be able to deal with a lot of stuff."

"It’s alright to get up and do Karaoke on a Friday night. People go, 'Oh this feels good, I’d like to do this for a living.' Yeah, well do it again tomorrow night, and then the night after that and then the night after that!"

"You’ve got to love it more than anything else because it’s going to take all of your life. It affects your life so much, and if you’re successful it’s great."

"The basic thing is I still love to sing. I love singing now as much as I ever did."

As Tom Jones readies himself to return to his home country of Wales for his first headline performance in over two decades (surprisingly), he recalled getting to meet his hero Elvis Presley for the first time way back when.

He said being introduced to Elvis for the first time was "the biggest one for me because I was a teenager in the 50s."

"Not many people had met [him], especially Brits. The Beatles had just met him I think a year before, so that was very special."

"When you look back… like I’ve got pictures on my wall, that’s when I think 'My God, is that really me? Standing with Elvis Presley?' It’s a strange thing. But when you’re doing it it’s very exciting."