Rocky Horror creator Richard O'Brien celebrates 75th with charity bash at Baycourt

75 YEARS: The Rocky Horror Show creator Richard O'Brien will celebrate with a show in Tauranga to fundraise for the Starship Foundation. PHOTO/Jason Oxenham

The Rocky Horror Picture Show creator Richard O'Brien is celebrating three quarters of a century alive with a show in Tauranga to fundraise for the Starship Foundation.

"I'm 75 this year, and I'm going to have a little concert evening, chat, with my dear old friend Mark Sainsbury at Baycourt. Every cent of the ticket price will go to Starship," he said.

Mr O'Brien, who has been a long-time supporter of Starship, said choosing the charity to donate to was a simple choice.

"We all want to give to charity, but it is very difficult to lock in to them. Many of them are driven perhaps by a political or religious group that one doesn't necessarily align to.

"But the thing about children is, it just overrides all of that. It overrides everything. Send a child home cured, safe. Look after children for crying out loud. It is so simple."

Mr O'Brien used his 70th birthday to fundraise for the Starship Foundation as well, raising $32,000.

Five years later he has decided to do it again with the 75 Years of Frock 'n' Roll show.

"It'll be a nice evening, but most of all it is about turning 75 and still being alive and raising funds for the hospital," Mr O'Brien said.

"It's three quarters of a century, we may as well have a natter about that. Why on earth am I still here for goodness sake?"

Asked about plans for the future Mr O'Brien said: "I don't look too far into the future, I'm not ambitious, I was never ambitious. I like to do things that I enjoy doing, rather than being forced to do them or feeling driven to do them through guilt.

"Sometimes creativity comes out of nowhere. You can sit down and strain your brain and work your butt off trying to come up with something, and truthfully a lot of creativity comes out of nowhere - you weren't sitting there trying to find it, it came out of laziness somehow.

"It's odd how it happens isn't it."

His birthday bash would coincide with Starship's own 25-year celebrations. The hospital is running its own campaign called My Birthday for Starship, where people could celebrate their birthdays by asking friends and family to donate.

Blues band Kokomo would be playing, and one of New Zealand's top piano players Grant Winterburn would also be performing.

For more information on the event, go to: http://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=FROCKNRO17&v=TBC or click here