Jimmy Barnes is made of tougher stuff than the rest of us.
Indeed, Barnes is the poster boy of determination, of beating the odds. Of defiance.
A two-time ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted rocker, Barnsey, as he’s affectionately known in these parts, has been knocked down but never out.
Despite the surgeries, and the post-op complications, his youthful excesses and childhood trauma, he always seems to come out on top.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Barnes’ For the Working Class Man and its signature song “Working Class Man” — a rock standard that accompanied the Ron Howard film of the same name (it was released as Gung Ho internationally) and gave the title to Barnes’ best-selling autobiographies. Both have been converted to film.
To celebrate this milestone, MG Live and Face to Face Touring present a national tour which sees Barnes playing large outdoor shows from coast to coast. The trek gets underway November 22nd at Mount Duneed Estate in Geelong, Victoria, and works its way through scenic winery and park venues in Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia before wrapping-up February 7th at Sandalford Wines in the Swan Valley.
Along the route, Barnes will be joined by Iva Davies’ ICEHOUSE, Cold Chisel bandmate Ian Moss, and Kate Ceberano.
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“For the Working Class Man was such a significant album in my life,” Barnes comments in a statement. “I got to make the record with some amazing people, and it really set up the rest of my solo career. I’m so excited to be celebrating it with some of my dearest friends and favourite artists. And I can think of no better way to mark this milestone than by performing these songs in some of the most beautiful and iconic outdoor venues across Australia.”
There’s also a reissue of For the Working Class Man, coming out November 14th, with pre-orders now available. The collection is newly remastered and available as a 2-LP “flame” coloured vinyl. And for the first time since its release, the singles will be issued as an exclusive limited-edition box set of coloured 7-inch singles. The 40th Anniversary Edition will also be available on CD and cassette.
Originally released December 4th, 1985, For the Working Class Man blended seven re-worked tracks from Barnes’ chart-topping 1984 debut, Bodyswerve, including “No Second Prize”, “Daylight”, and “Promise Me You’ll Call”, along with new material. The LP logged seven weeks at No. 1, and has gone on to shift more than 500,000 copies in Australia.
Its title track, written by Journey’s Jonathan Cain, is an unofficial national anthem and dropped in at No. 56 of triple j’s Hottest 100 of Australian Songs.
With his forthcoming dates, Barnes will pay tribute his late, great friend Michael Gudinski, the founder of Mushroom Group, who passed in 2021 at the age of 68. “I’m as proud of For the Working Class Man as any album the Mushroom Group has released,” he comments. MG called the album Jimmy’s gift to his fans.
Raised in Scotland, Barnes relocated to Australia to find a better life. He sure found it.
He is, by some distance, the most successful artist in the history of the ARIA Albums Chart with 16 solo leaders, putting him well clear of The Beatles’ 14 No. 1s, Taylor Swift’s 13, and Madonna’s 12. Add six No. 1s with Cold Chisel, and his tally is towering.
With Barnes’ 21st and latest solo album, DEFIANT, he blasted to the top of the leaderboard in June 2025.
He could extend his record once again with the release of Cold Chisel’s new live album, The Big Five-O Live, capturing the legendary band’s major trans-Tasman tour of 2024 and 2025, which shifted more than a quarter million tickets. The Big Five-O Live will be released August 8th.
Now aged 69, Barnes has collected six ARIA Awards as a solo artist and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005. Cold Chisel were elevated back in 1993.
Andrew Farrell’s intimate portrait of Barnes, Working Class Man, is one of the standouts from this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival, where it gets its world premiere.
The documentary follows on from 2018’s Working Class Boy, on which Farrell was a producer. Barnes brought a rock edge to the TV industry’s big night, The Logies, when he opened the show by belting out “Working Class Man”, a warmup for the full-scale tour to come.
Jimmy Barnes For the Working Class Man 40th Anniversary Tour
With special guests ICEHOUSE, Ian Moss and Kate Ceberano
Presented by MG Live and Face to Face Touring
Tickets on sale Thursday, August 7th from Ticketmaster
Saturday, November 22nd 2025 – Mount Duneed Estate, Geelong, VIC
Saturday, November 29th 2025 – Sirromet, Mount Cotton, QLD
Saturday, December 6th 2025 – Bimbadgen, Pokolbin, NSW
Saturday, January 17th 2026 – Regatta Grounds, Hobart, TAS
Saturday, January 31st 2026 – Peter Lehmann Wines, Barossa Valley, SA
Saturday, February 7th 2026 – Sandalford Wines, Swan Valley, WA
