Jimmy Barnes NZ tour: Rocker discusses return to Aotearoa with Cold Chisel for Summer Concert Tour 2025

Jimmy Barnes is returning to New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images

Jimmy Barnes is returning to New Zealand next year for the Summer Concert Tour with Cold Chisel, and he’s now revealed what keeps bringing him back to Aotearoa.

Speaking to Coast radio hosts Toni Street, Jason Reeves and Sam Wallace on air this morning, he said he’s doing “surprisingly good” after undergoing open heart surgery last year.

He’s returning to New Zealand this month with his Hell of a Time tour, months after he was hospitalised with bacterial pneumonia and became very unwell, eventually undergoing surgery to replace the aortic valve in his heart.

Cold Chisel.

Now, he’s simply excited to be back performing and making the most of “the opportunity to play music with a bunch of guys that are my best friends”.

He said of his band Cold Chisel: “I think the music we make together is absolutely unique in the world, and it’s one of those bands that every time we walk into the room together and start playing, from the first chord there’s a magic that happens and it just sounds great.”

Barnes told the radio hosts it’s the connection with their Kiwi audience that keeps bringing them back.

“I was 16 when I joined Cold Chisel, we grew up in the public eye and we sort of grew up with our audience,” he said.

“New Zealand, for me personally and for the band, has always been a huge part of our history.”

He recalled playing a show in Ngāruawāhia in the 1970s and “realising at that moment that this country got us”.

“We’re not that different, the Kiwis and the Aussies. We immediately connected with the audience and since that day, I’ve been going back ever since and I’ve always felt like part of the family.”

For those of his fans planning to head along to the Summer Concert Tour, Barnes promised: “We’re gonna tear the place apart”, along with “dear old friends” Icehouse and “bloody legend” Bic Runga.

Last week when the Summer Concert Tour lineup was announced, Barnes revealed he was excited to headline with Cold Chisel.

“There have been plenty of times where I never thought I’d live to see this day, so I’m going to make the most of it. I can’t wait to celebrate with my mates and with all the fans who have been such a big part of our story. We’re gonna smash it,” he said.

The popular summer festival is set to celebrate 15 years in 2025.

Next January, Cold Chisel, Bic Runga, Icehouse and Everclear will headline performances in Queenstown, Taupō and Whitianga, with two of the three shows set to take place across Auckland Anniversary weekend.

The first show kicks off the tour in Queenstown on Saturday, January 18, next year before heading to Taupō on Saturday, January 25, and then to Whitianga in the Coromandel on Sunday, January 26.

Summer Concert Tour 2025 dates and ticket information

• Saturday, January 18 - Gibbston Valley Winery, Queenstown.
• Saturday, January 25 - Taupō Amphitheatre, Taupō.
• Sunday, January 26 - Whitianga Waterways, Whitianga.

Tickets: One NZ customers can access pre-sale tickets from 10am on Thursday, June 27. Concert Club members can also purchase tickets during a pre-sale starting at 10am on Thursday, June 27. General public tickets go on sale at 12pm on Monday, July 1.