Sir Tom Jones on his new album Surrounded By Time and still being a Sexbomb

Virgin Radio

26 Apr 2021, 10:05

The iconic Welshman joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky to talk about his latest musical offering of meaningful covers, his passion for music and how he stays so sprightly.

Sir Tom told Chris: “What I tried to do is get songs that reflect my life story. Even though I didn't write them, I got songs to fit different times of my life and different experiences that I've had.

“It took a while to get it together but I'm glad it all did and to be received like this is unbelievable because you get an idea and you go in the studio with the people that you trust and do the best you can and try and be as honest as you can and hopefully the people will like it."

On taking life and his music leisurely, he said: “I’ve got more time now and that's why we called the album Surrounded By Time because time is very important and now it feels like I'm not in a rush because when you're young, you want to get things done.

"You want to move on fast but as you get older, hopefully as long as the voice is still strong and flexible which it is, you've got to really think about it and it's more important to me now than ever because it's a bit of a wonder to me how kind God has been. He’s still smiling at me - or she - whatever the case may be.”

How does he stay so fit and healthy? He explained: "I think I've taken better care of myself now than when I was younger because I did enjoy a glass of beer. I was brought up in that culture of course in South Wales and then moved on to some fine wines and things like that but that's about as far as I've gone.

"I've been lucky in that respect... I'm not saying that, oh, it's okay to drink, it's still a drug, but you've got to be careful with it and when you get older the hangovers are much bigger than they used to be when you're young.

"You've got to take all those things into consideration and don't try and be younger than you are. I can only do so much."

On his life-long love affair with music, he said: "Singing is like breathing. It's very natural for me. If it's not important it's hard for me to concentrate on things.

"Music is what I was really meant to do - and I'm still doing it, so I'm really thrilled with that."