Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Richard Marx is heading back to Australia, kicking off a national tour next week after his latest album After Hours topped the ARIA jazz and blues charts.
Known for classics like Right Here Waiting and Hazard, Marx will begin the five-city tour in Brisbane before performing a sold-out show at the Sydney Opera House.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Richard Marx on 40 years of hits and Australian tour
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“I haven’t done a concert all year yet, and so my first show will be next week in Brisbane,” Marx told The Morning Show.
“I can’t wait to get on stage and play.”
Back on stage after a break from touring, Marx said performing regularly is key to his mood.
“When I don’t do shows for a period of time, my wife will be the first to tell you that I get grumpy,” he revealed.
Fans can expect a setlist stacked with the songs that made him a global star, with Marx adamant he has no interest in leaving the hits behind.
“I don’t understand these artists who’ve had hits who don’t want to play their hits,” he said.
“I wrote all those songs, so I’m like, all these years later, I love playing those songs.”
One of those hits — Right Here Waiting — almost never happened, with the song originally intended for Barbra Streisand.
“She loved the music. Quote, she said, ‘I love this melody, Richard, but you’re going to need to rewrite the lyrics because I’m not going to be right here waiting for anybody’,” Marx said.
“I thank her every once in a while. I say, thank you so much for rejecting that song because I wouldn’t have recorded it, and it became the biggest song of my life.”
Decades into his career, Marx has swapped traditional studio sessions for a more unconventional songwriting process.
“When I write songs, I go hiking,” he said. “I have to be outside. And I just write everything on my phone.”
Currently appearing as a coach on The Voice Australia alongside Melanie C (Sporty Spice), Ronan Keating, and Kate Miller-Heidke, Marx remains a regular visitor to these shores.
The upcoming tour will see him perform across Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle and Melbourne, bringing new music alongside the catalogue that has defined his four-decade career.