'So happy it hurts': Why Bryan Adams is thrilled to be back on tour
ITV News Reporter James Webster speaks to Bryan Adams
He is one of the world’s biggest selling artists ever, but like so many in the music industry, he has found the lack of performances since the Covid pandemic hard, now Bryan Adams is back on stage as he brings his latest tour to the UK and he couldn’t be happier.
The title song from the musician’s latest album, So Happy It Hurts, sums up exactly how he is feeling about getting back out performing and is a song all about making the most of our freedoms, something he says seems to resonate with his fans.
"I recorded about 30 songs for this album, of which I narrowed it down, to I think the 12 best and you can normally tell which are the best ones by how fast they come together. Once I had [So Happy It Hurts] I thought, we've got an album coming here, so that was the cornerstone song," he says.
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Bryan has even given his mother, who is now 94, a starring role in the video to make up for being unable to join him on tour.
Now in his fifth decade of generating hits, Bryan is back out on tour performing songs from the new album, along with some classics from his vast back catalogue.
He is currently in the middle of 15 dates across the UK:
May 13 - Brighton, Brighton Centre
May 14 - Birmingham, Utilita Arena
May 15 - Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
May 17 - Manchester, AO Arena
May 18 - Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena
May 20 - Newcastle, Utilita Arena
May 23 - Glasgow, SSE Arena
May 26 - London, The O2 Arena
May 29 - Belfast, SSE Arena
July 5 - Durham, Emirates Riverside
July 6 - Kelso, Floors Castle
July 8 - Norwich, Blickling Estate
July 9 - Music Festival, Cornbury
July 10 - Harewood House, Leeds
July 11 - Cardiff Castle, Cardiff
Away from music Adams is an accomplished photographer, recently commissioned to take the pictures for the Pirelli calendar.
The upcoming Platinum Jubilee celebrations also bring back memories of one of his most famous commissions when he was asked to photograph the Queen for her Golden Jubilee in 2002.
Remembering how he asked her to pose for a very candid portrait in the entrance to Buckingham Palace while she was getting ready to go out he is slightly sorry he hasn’t had the opportunity to photograph her again this year.
“It was just myself and my assistant, and we went over there. She was really nice and so was Prince Phillip. It was really quite a memorable occasion.”
For me, meeting Bryan Adams is one of those days as a journalist you feel very lucky to have the opportunity to meet one of your heroes.
Summer of 69 is my favourite song of all time.
But what I also love is the fact hearing him perform isn’t just a trip down memory lane. There are so many new songs to enjoy.
The new music is infectiously catchy and Bryan talks most enthusiastically about how he loves it when he hears the big reaction from fans in the audience singing along to some of those.
“You can sort of hear it and the undertones of it as you go along and the other night when we were playing, I was really happy to hear that they're singing Shine a Light because they just sang it so loud.”
Many of us reflected during the Covid lockdowns on the things we took for granted that we could temporarily not enjoy.
Perhaps that is why Bryan Adams is happier than ever at being back on the road with his latest music.