Jimmy Barnes’ New Zealand fans can breathe easy – he’s officially added Aotearoa dates to his upcoming ‘Working Class Man 40th Anniversary Tour’.
Released in December 1985, For The Working Class Man went straight to No. 1 on the Australian charts, where it then spent seven weeks, and helped define his hugely successful solo career.
Arguably the most successful artist in Australian chart history, Barnesy has had 16 solo No. 1 albums, plus six chart-topping albums with Cold Chisel. His 21st solo album, DEFIANT, entered the Australian charts at No. 1 in June this year, while Cold Chisel’s new live album, The Big Five-O Live, was released in August.
Now he has hit the road, to celebrate the album that defined a generation, performing it from start to finish, taking the crowd from “I’d Die To Be With You Tonight” to “Paradise”, plus classic cuts from his chart-topping catalogue.
Barnesy has added two New Zealand dates to the tour. He’ll perform at Christchurch’s Wolfbrook Arena on Friday, April 17th, followed by Auckland’s Spark Arena on Sunday, April 19th.
Tickets to the new shows will go on sale at 12pm (local) on Monday, December 8th at 1pm. Mastercard, One NZ, and artist presales will run from 11am (local) on Wednesday, December 3rd, before a Live Nation presale begins at 12pm (local) on Friday, December 5th.
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Barnesy will be joined by his Cold Chisel comrade Ian Moss for the New Zealand shows. Moss also hit No. 1 with his first solo album, Matchbook, featuring the classic “Tucker’s Daughter”. After eight studio albums, he recently released the acclaimed live album Live At Anita’s.
The ‘Working Class Man 40th Anniversary Tour’ kicked off in Australia last week, and continues on to Bimbadgen in the Hunter Valley on December 6th, the Sydney Opera House Forecourt on December 18th, Hobart’s Regatta Grounds on January 17th, Peter Lehmann Wines in the Barossa on January 31st, and Sandalford Wines in WA’s Swan Valley on February 7th.
He’s also playing some new Australian shows at Sandstone Point Hotel on Saturday, March 21st, as well as Bowral’s Centennial Vineyards on March 28th, and Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on April 10th, before making his way to New Zealand.
To mark the album milestone, a remastered 40th anniversary version of For the Working Class Man has also recently been reissued, via Mushroom Music.
The deluxe editions span formats both nostalgic and collectible: a double ‘flame’ coloured vinyl (the first time it’s been pressed on two LPs), CD, cassette, and a limited-edition box set of coloured 7″ singles, including a newly stripped-back version of “Working Class Man” and a 10-minute spoken-word reflection by Barnesy himself.
For complete tour, ticket and VIP information, see here.
JIMMY BARNES ZEALAND 2026
Friday, April 17th
Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch NZ
Sunday, April 19th
Spark Arena, Auckland NZ
