Jason Donovan: music is "the closest human beings come to touching magic"

His Doin' Fine 25 tour will hark back to his Doin’ Fine 90 tour which, as he says, was a real game changer in his career, his first real opportunity to perform live on the back of his hit songs. And he started big, with a world tour still very fondly remembered by his fans.

Show dates for 2025 will include February 22 at Portsmouth Guildhall, February 28 at Guildford G Live and March 4 at Worthing Assembly Hall.

“Until 1990 I don't think I'd ever done a live concert in my life. But I'd had a number of hits off the back of Stock Aitken Waterman, and there was a desire to get out there and hone my craft. I'd always done a lot of singing but I'd never really embarked on a tour or really worked with a band, and it was a conscious decision that if my career was going to go that way I had to play live. It was a baptism of fire. Most up-and-coming artists don't get to perform three or four nights at Wembley Arena and then go off on a world tour but I used the opportunity to work on my craft.”

And it all proved the best possible start: “I think you become addicted to the adrenaline of performing but I feel very fortunate to have had a bunch of songs that are very emotional and that have meaning not just for me but for the audience. And I think music is magic. It's the closest that human beings come to touching magic. It is an emotional rollercoaster when you you can play your songs and you can feel what they mean to people. I just feel incredibly fortunate to have that. I've also had that fan experience that I can relate to of listening to music that comforts me and makes me feel good about myself.

“I have been singing these songs for a long time now and I guess Doin’ Fine 90 really changed my world and opened up the adrenaline of performing live to me. Until then I had worked as a TV actor. On TV you do press a red button and it's live but you can always go back and do something again, but performing on stage is completely different and you're in control of your own career and how you express yourself and it's really exciting to be doing that now.”

If he’d been told then back in 1990 that he would be marking the tour 35 years later, Jason doesn't know what he would have thought: “It would have felt a long way off but life is just really the blink of an eye, isn't it, especially when you think that so much has happened between 1990 and 2025, particularly being a parent and having a family. There has been so much.”

But Jason’s star status has endured: “I suppose it depends on who you are looking out for. A lot of the work that I do is musical theatre which is maybe not as high profile as doing a Netflix series or being on the radio but I guess the reason why I'm still doing it is just because I love doing it and I've always kept an eye on my craft. I've always challenged myself and hopefully I've always been authentic to myself. I'm pretty honest with my audiences and I like to think I have used the platforms I've had to my best advantage. It is not all being just happy shiny smiley people. There have been difficult times as well. But I think I'm more at ease with my craft now than I have been for a while.”

At the time of speaking Jason was on the road with The Rocky Horror Show: “And it's a great show. I did it in 98 and I can slip into the role. It suits me vocally. I'm not just the glossy Joseph figure. Rocky is about misfits and being different and that suits my singing and my style of acting.

“I never set out to be musical theatre star. Joseph was one of those moments where the timing in life came together with my career, the Palladium, the show and that changed my life a huge amount. My dad was in musical theatre and I certainly watched what he did in theatre. Musical theatre has become a big part of my story. But I just love to work. I love to keep busy. I love to keep challenged. And I think musical theatre has suited both my acting and my singing and to a certain degree my dance. It has been very good to me.”