Jon Stevens didn't need to be asked twice when approached to support Sir Rod Stewart on his tour of Australia.
The answer was yes. Hell yes.
"I'm a massive fan of Rod's. His is one of the top five concerts I've been to in my life, and I've been to a few," Stevens says.
"I loved him in the Faces. I'm a huge fan of his voice. I even recorded one of his songs a few years ago.
"I love the man, so for me, being on the road with him and being able to stand on the side of the stage watching the master at work, is just the ultimate. He is a true icon of rock and roll."
Stevens is also a fan - and friend - of Stewart's fellow touring artist Cyndi Lauper. Stewart will perform a two-hour set from his vast catalogue of hits, while Lauper will perform an hour-long set of her most-loved songs.
"Cyndi loved Noiseworks. We first met in the '80s and have hung out quite a few times over the years. She is an amazing woman and artist," Stevens says.
"I don't usually go out on tours as a support for another artist but when I got the call - 'Hey, Rod Stewart's coming to town and we'd love you to do it' - I was like 'I'm in!'. I didn't have to think twice about being on tour with these two legends."
As frontman of Noiseworks, Stevens has had four top 10 albums and 12 top 50 singles, including No Lies, Take Me Back, Touch and Hot Chilli Woman. He also fronted INXS for more than three years.
Noiseworks released their fourth studio album in November 2022 called Evolution. It's their first since 1991's Love Versus Money.
"It's just a little independent release, there's no big machine behind it, but it's done really well," Stevens says.
"We've all been busy doing other things but we found time to get together and write over the course of a few years.
"We'd book a studio and hash some stuff out. Finally in 2019 we had enough for an album.
"It's also [lead guitarist] Stuart Fraser's last album. It was good to go in 2019 then Stuart unfortunately passed away so it sat on the shelf, and then COVID hit everybody. Fast forward to 2022 and it was like 'Let's put this album out and do a bunch of shows'. So we did.
"We've only got a few shows left on the Noiseworks tour and that could be it. Who knows? We don't have any plans beyond that and I think that's cool because with Stuart gone it's just different, you know?"
Noiseworks keyboardist Justin Stanley joined the band on tour.
"He hasn't played with us for 30 years. He's usually living in America producing music for other artists like Sheryl Crow and Eric Clapton," Stevens says.
"I did 100 shows last year myself on top of the Noiseworks tour. It's just one of those things - performing live is where we all live. The band is from that era, the late '70s and early '80s, when bands were all phenomenal live. We grew up in that environment."
Stevens does plan to take some time out from touring this year to write songs for a new album, but not too much time. He has recovered well from a recent health scare and says he treats every day as "a blessing".
"As long as I take care of myself, I'm good. Doing shows and making music makes me happy, it's a true joy for me," he says.
"I just had another grandchild - my third - and she's gorgeous. I shouldn't be here, really, so I'm very grateful and very humbled for everything in my life."
Stevens was born in Wellington, New Zealand, moved to Australia 42 years ago, and still supports the All Blacks in rugby union ("Country of origin, man!").
"My kids are Australian. I've got an Australian passport and a New Zealand passport and a European passport too, so it makes me a bit of a mongrel. I'm a Maussie, really, a Maori Aussie, but I would die for either country, that's the nuts and bolts of it."
Jon Stevens, Rod Stewart and Cyndi Lauper perform at Roche Estate in the Hunter Valley on April 1. Tickets are on sale now.
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