Retro pop icon Tom Jones is postponing a U.S. concert tour due to health concerns, the 77-year-old Welshman told fans Saturday via Twitter. Jones, whose career spans six decades, was scheduled to start an ambitious Stateside tour on Sept. 6 in Pennsylvania, but on the advice of his physicians will now embark on those shows in May and June of 2018.
The singer did not disclose the medical problem that prompted the change in plans. Tickets for the 2017 shows will be honored for the new dates or can be turned in for refunds.
Jones, a baritone crooner whose first hit was 1964’s “It’s Not Unusual,” was a performance phenomenon throughout the ’60s, famous for his signature tight pants and unbuttoned shirts that made him an international sex symbol. He won a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1966, and while his career has weathered ups and downs in the ensuing decades, he won an MTV Video Music Award in 1989, the year he teamed with the Art of Noise on a cover version of Prince’s “Kiss.”
His signature hits include 1965’s “What’s New Pussycat” and “Delilah,” from 1968. Jones also enjoyed a degree of crossover success in Hollywood, landing a coveted James Bond theme for “Thunderball” (1966) and having his songs synched in dozens of films and TV shows. He played himself in the 1996 Tim Burton film “Mars Attacks.” In 2008 Junkie XL had success with a remix of Jones’ “Feels Like Music,” and in 2012 he was one of the judges on U.K. edition of “The Voice.”
Jones has been struggling emotionally since the 2016 death of his wife Linda, to whom he’d been married for 57 years.
