“If you’d have asked me then if I’d still been making music in my fifties, I would’ve said ‘absolutely.'”
CHESNEY Hawkes has had a busy year so far, and with festival season approaching, it’s showing no signs of slowing.
April saw Chesney dropping his latest album, Living Arrows, just three days before he entered the Celebrity Big Brother house– and he’s touring until mid-2026.
It comes as he approaches 25 years of being in the business, and rather than slowing down, he’s enjoying a resurgence; not only creatively, but personally.
Now in his fifties, Chesney says: “Life comes in its ups and downs, but it’s pretty great at the moment.
“I’m back in the UK, selling out tours, and getting radio hits on my new album– you really can’t complain about that.”
He is also fresh from the Celebrity Big Brother house, where he was joined by the likes of drag queen Danny Beard, musician and dancer JoJo Siwa, actors Patsy Palmer, Jack P Shepherd, and Mickey Rourke, presenters Trisha Goddard and Angelica Bell, and former Olympian Daley Thompson.
“It is such a weird kind of social experiment,” he says of the show, “but I was under no pretences going in that it would be difficult at times.
“Obviously you’re cut off from your family, friends, and life in general– three weeks is a long time to be without a phone, a guitar, a pen and paper; all you have is your housemates for entertainment.
“But they were entertaining, there’s no doubt about that– it was a really good group they put together, so I was really grateful for that.”
He settled into it, however: “You get used to it; when I got out, my wife gave me my phone back and it was like a hot potato– I just threw it back in her bag– so that’s probably something I’ll take away from it.
“I feel like I sound like an old b*****d when I start talking like that; but I’m really considering a day a week where I just don’t look at it.
“But as well as getting spend time with everyone, that really was one of the things I enjoyed most about it.”
“I think anyone that goes in and thinks they’re gonna play the game to win, they’ll always struggle– the people who do well on those kinds of things are people are themselves.
“You’re gonna get shown up if you’re acting like a d*ck, and it’s just a TV show… you can’t take it seriously, despite the fact that the drama is amplified beyond belief.
“You have to take a step back and remind yourself that it’s just a game.”
Chesney made it to the series final, placing fifth, and exited the house still only weeks out from having released his latest album.
Living Arrows is Chesney’s sixth studio album since his iconic debut in 1991, but he explains that his affinity with music spans even longer.
“I knew it was wanted to do when I was 10; so putting out a record at 19, if you’d have asked me then if I’d still been making music in my fifties, I would’ve said ‘absolutely’,
“I’m really proud of this record. The tracks are all very close to my heart and very much part of my life.”
The album is one of his most eclectic to date, with floor-filling dance tracks like Get a Hold of Yourself, introspective guitar ballads like Do You Ever Think of Me, upbeat indie rock anthems like Live Forever, and 90’s-infused chilled-out tracks like Surprise Yourself.
It not only harkens back to the earnest introspection of his previous works, but also heralds a new era for Chesney– one of ebullient self-acceptance.
“I was working with Jake Gosling, who’s produced for Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, who I’ve known for years, and he really dragged me into the contemporary pop world.
“I was definitely more introspective when left to my own devices, I feel like that’s kind of where I go, so I needed that influence.
“It wasn’t such a concious choice, we were just having fun with it, and it pushed me out of my comfort zone.
“I came to him with a riff for Get a Hold of Yourself, and he made sure I kept it sharp, kind of snipped vocals and percussive sound.
“I didn’t realise it was gonna be a lead single, to be honest– but people started saying ‘where the hell did this come from,’ and now it’s one of my favourites, especially live.”
As well as the musical exploration, the video also sees a fair dose of abandon on Chesney’s part, as he frolics nude around a stately home– a raunchier side he also divulged somewhat during his time on Big Brother.
“It was well done, quite classy, but I really wanted to show another side to myself, and it speaks to a real freedom that I feel right now.
“I’m in my 50s, and I really worry less about what people think– I’m okay being in my own skin, my family are happy, and as long as I have my integrity in the right place and that I know that.
“It wasn’t purposefully raunchy, but you can have fun and be cheeky with it; that was something I kind of took into the Big Brother house, too.”
He explains that that fun has extended to his attitude to his career and his life, too: “You get to a certain age where you let go of those worries a bit more.
“When you’re younger and your kids are younger, and you’re anxious about your career, you do have more stress.
“We all have things that we worry about too much– and of course people do have big things to worry about: health, your loved ones, money, of course.
“But you can choose to focus on things, and that’s what works for me.
“Of course it might not work for everyone or they have to work harder to make that work for them, but I focus on the things which make me happy, more and more as I get older.”
Things aren’t slowing down either, as Chesney has a busy schedule ahead of him.
Throughout the summer, he’s playing a whole wave of shows and festivals, including Rewind South, NRT Festival, Soundwave, BritFest, Sunshine Festival, iMEP Music Festival, and App Fest– before setting out on his own headline festival next year.
“It’s festival season,” he explains, “and of course playing The One and Only to crowds is hard to beat– for me it’s the song for a summer festival crowd, and they always love it.
“Then there’s those acoustic shows where it’s mainly the fans who have come to see me, then there are songs like Loud, which is more introspective and deals with loss.
“It has that emotional connection that you just can’t get with other songs– sometimes you don’t even know where it comes from, it just makes that connection– so I really look forward to performing those, too.”
Chesney Hawkes is performing at Rewind South on Sunday, August 17, alongside Holly Johnson, Midge Ure, Blue, Tenpole Tudor, and T’Pau.
The festival will also see sets from Soft Cell, ABC, The Sugarhill Gang, Go West, Wang Chung, and Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins.
Rewind Festival South takes place from Friday-Sunday, August 15-17, at Temple Island Meadows, Henley-on-Thames.
Full details available via: south.rewindfestival.com
Full details of Chesney Hawkes’ upcoming shows, including his headline tour next year, are available via: chesneyhawkes.com
Living Arrows is out now and available to stream on Spotify, Apple, and other streaming services.
