Jimmy Barnes Returns To Aotearoa New Zealand In 2026

To celebrate his landmark album For The Working Class Man, JIMMY BARNES is hitting the road for the Working Class Man 40th Anniversary Tour, proudly presented by Live Nation, Face to Face Touring, MG Live and The Sound.

Performing at Christchurch’s Wolfbrook Arena on Friday, April 17 followed by Auckland’s Spark Arena on Sunday, April 19 Barnesy, as he’s affectionately known, will be playing the iconic album from start to finish, taking the crowd from I’d Die To Be With You Tonight to Paradise, plus classic cuts from his chart-topping catalogue.

Eligible Westpac New Zealand customers with a Westpac New Zealand Mastercard have special access to presale tickets starting from Wednesday, December 3 at 11am until Friday,

December 5 at 11am. Westpac hotpoints® Mastercard cardholders also have access to exclusive preferred tickets from Monday, December 8 at 1pm. For more information visit priceless.com/westpacnz

One NZ customers can be among the first to secure tickets during a 48-hour presale starting Wednesday, December 3 at 11am. Head to one.nz/music. 

Members of the jimmybarnes.com mailing list will receive exclusive access to the Jimmy Barnes Fan Presale, commencing Wednesday, December 3 at 11am until until Friday, December 5 at 11am. Sign up to the mailing list here: jimmybarnes.com/mailinglist

The Live Nation Presale starts Friday, December 5 at 12pm until Monday, December 8 at 12pm  or until allocation is exhausted. To purchase presale tickets, sign up now at livenation.co.nz/register.

General public tickets on sale Monday, December 8 at 1pm. For complete tour, ticket and VIP information, visit livenation.co.nz

Released in December 1985, For The Working Class Man went straight to number one on the Australian chart and helped define Jimmy’s hugely successful solo career. As the authors of The 100 Best Australian Albums declared, “It defined both him and much of Australia.”

The album spent seven weeks at number one, becoming Barnesy’s longest-running chart-topper. And it has sold more than 500,000 copies in Australia.

“For The Working Class Man was such a significant album in my life. 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 For The Working Class Man with one of my dearest friends and favourite artists. And I can think of no better way to mark this milestone than by performing these songs with my New Zealand fans.”
Jimmy Barnes

For The Working Class Man is packed with classics, including Jimmy’s first Top 10 solo single I’d Die To Be With You Tonight, the Top 40 smash Ride The Night Away, and the beautiful ballad that he wrote for his wife Jane, Without Your Love.

And, of course, the album features his signature song, the unofficial national anthem of Australia, Working Class Man.

Joining JIMMY BARNES for these epic shows is the legendary IAN MOSS – a musician from the Working Class Man era who is still at the top of his game.

Barnesy’s Cold Chisel comrade IAN MOSS hit number one with his first solo album, Matchbook, featuring the classic Tucker’s Daughter. After eight studio albums, he recently released the acclaimed live album Live At Anita’s (“the new live album shows that Mossy’s voice is still a thing of beauty, while his guitar work remains instinctive and inventive” – STACK magazine). In 2014, Mossy’s fellow musicians ranked him as Australia’s greatest guitarist in a News Corp poll.

JIMMY BARNES is the most successful artist in Australian chart history. He’s had 16 solo number one albums – no artist has had more – plus six chart-topping albums with Cold Chisel. Barnesy’s 21st solo album, DEFIANT, entered the Australian charts at number one in June this year. Cold Chisel’s new live album, The Big Five-O Live, was released on August 8.

The time has come to celebrate the album in all its glory.

JIMMY BARNES – THE WORKING CLASS MAN TOUR

CHRISTCHURCH – WOLFBROOK ARENA – FRIDAY, APRIL 17

AUCKLAND – SPARK ARENA – SUNDAY, APRIL 19

TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY, DECEMBER 8 AT 1.00PM

Mastercard & One NZ presales Weds, December 3 at 11am until Fri, December 5 at 11am

Artist presale Weds, December 3 at 11am until Fri, December 5 at 11am

Live Nation presale Fri, December 5 at 12pm until Mon, December 8 at 12pm

For complete tour, ticket and VIP Experience information, visit: jimmybarnes.com & www.livenation.co.nz  

 “Ah yeah, let me tell you all about it …”
7 things you might not know about For The Working Class Man

  • Kim Carnes sang backing vocals on I’d Die To Be With You Tonight.
  • I’d Die To Be With You Tonight was written by Chas Sandford, who co-wrote John Waite’s classic Missing You.
  • Working Class Man was written by Jonathan Cain from American band Journey. He wrote it about Jimmy’s audience – staunch, working-class people who work hard and want to have a good time on a Saturday night.
  • Ride The Night Awaywas written for Jimmy by Steven Van Zandt, the guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, and Steve Jordan, who is now the drummer in The Rolling Stones.
  • Mick Fleetwood played drums on Ride The Night Awayand Without Your Love.
  • Working Class Manwas the theme song for Ron Howard’s 1986 movie Gung Ho.
  • The American record company planned to release the album as A Week Away From Paradise. The US version ended up being self-titled
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