'I'm still loving life': Chesney Hawkes talks about growing up around superstars, sudden fame and decline, triumphant return and still loving music ahead of Birmingham show

Chesney Hawkes has seen good times and bad times since exploding onto the scene in the film “Buddy’s Song” in 1991, followed by the song he is still widely remembered for in “The One and Only”.

From worldwide fame playing to thousands and the hysteria that came with it to be dropped by his record label in the mid-1990s to re-emerging through TV appearances and playing university shows, it’s been a real journey for the 54-year-old.

Having released his first album in more than a decade, “Living Arrows”, in 2025, Chesney has been embarking on a national tour with a setlist full of the newer songs, as well as songs from his comeback years and the hits of the early 1990s.

Ahead of his tour date at the O2 Academy in Birmingham on March 20, Chesney said he was thrilled to be out touring and said it was all about having fun.

He said: “The album has been out for about eight months and I just want this tour to be fun and also be intimate gigs, playing to 600 to 800 people.

“I love those sort of gigs because you can talk a bit more and do a bit more, feel more free and be able to see the whites of the eyes of the people in the crowd.

“They can just get to know me a bit and that’s what I want, for people to leave their inhibitions at the door and come and relive their youth.

“I’m obviously going to pepper the set with some of the latest album and also put some bangers in there, but I just want to have a laugh and I think there’s something nice about getting a group of people in a room to play music that are all of a similar age.

“It feels like you’ve grown up together and everyone has kids and there’s cultural reference points and there’s something beautiful about that, so it’s just going to be a fun night.”

Chesney said he had always felt like he could be a star as a young man, with that belief being partly due to being around so many people in the industry growing up.

This included his father Len Hawkes, who was in the Tremeloes, his mother Carol Dilworth, an actress who appeared on TV shows like Golden Shot and Sale of the Century and being around the likes of  Gerry Marsden, the Searchers, Marmalade, Herman’s Hermits and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.

His breakout moment came in 1991 with the starring role in “Buddy’s Song” alongside The Who frontman Roger Daltrey, a role he said he’d taken due to the chance of a record deal.

He said: “That was the beginning of my career and I did it because, honestly, I’m not an actor and I really only went up for that part because I thought it was about a singer-songwriter and I though there might be a record deal in it as, in those days, that was the only real part.

“I just went up for it and the stars aligned for me at that moment in time as I ended up getting the part, then I got the record deal from that and the first single from the soundtrack was The One and Only.”

Chesney said the song had generated a lot of positive energy, but he said he also felt the negative energy from people about it, and also acknowledged that after its success, reaching Number One in the UK singles charts, there was the fear of what to do next.

He said: “You get positive energy from it, but you also get the negative energy of people thinking ‘who does he think he is?’.

“I’d always say that it was a song and supposed to be a self-empowerment thing, but there’s always going to be people who love you and those who hate you and you’ve got to deal with both sides when you have that sort of success.

“I remember being in the office of my manager at the time Bill Kirby, who managed The Who and Led Zeppelin and he was actually saying ‘I hope this isn’t a number one’, which seemed crazy to me as it was all I’d ever wanted from life.

“But then, as I look back on that moment, I can see what he meant as it was such a hard thing to follow as when you come in with such a massive explosion, you do think about where you go from there.”

The rush of success at the time was something Chesney said he initially enjoyed, but then said he had no idea how busy his life was about to become.

He said: “I’d been around fame before because of my dad, but I didn’t appreciate how much hard work it was going to be as I was suddenly rushed off my feet.

“When you’re a solo artist, it’s pretty much all on you and I didn’t think that I was going to become such a commodity, but that’s what happened.

“When I see artists like Chappell Roan, I do think about how long it’s going to be before they burn out and have to cancel gigs and it does happen a lot.

“I’ve seen it, been there, done it and got the t-shirt, but at the time, I didn’t expect it as I just thought we’re going to go on an amazing ride and it was amazing, but after a while, you just can’t carry on that kind of intensity because it’s impossible.”

The level of fame he had was something Chesney said he’d not known how to cope with at the time due to being so young, saying that at times, his life didn’t even feel like his own.

He said: “I grew up in that kind of atmosphere because all my dad’s friends were in bands and I always thought that if I made it, that would be the way it was, but I certainly never thought I would be this kind of pop star heartthrob, just the guy who writes the songs and sings them.

“People were actually screaming at me and I look at footage of myself and how I look and see the hysteria and it was genuinely mad.

“I know that was a different person as I was a kid and actually younger than my kids are now, but it’s still funny to look back at.”

Following being dropped by his record company in the mid-1990s, Chesney said he never stopped playing and writing music, but had wanted to escape the name Chesney Hawkes and wanted to just play guitar in a rock band and rebel against the pop star image he had.

It was at the turn of the Millennium that things began to change for Chesney as, having played small venues and struggled to make money, he was offered a gig at Nottingham University and said he had accepted it, but not expected much from the night.

He said: “I got offered the show and did it for nothing, like about £200, and I turned up thinking it was going to be bad and no one would know who I was, but it turned out to be a great night.

“The Student Union was packed with pictures of my face and it was a weird experience, mostly because I thought it was over and I was done, but it turned out not to be the case at all.

“That turned things around for me as, through the 1990s, I’d said I wasn’t going to do gigs as me and I was in bands, but that was the first time I’d walked out under my own name and played ‘The One and Only’, as I didn’t play it for years.”

That song is something that Chesney said most people would easily identify him with nowadays and joked that he could ask people on the street whether they knew he was still out recording and playing music and the response would be ‘no, I only know that song’.

However, he said he still gets recognised a lot more now and said his place in the public consciousness had increased due to performing and the odd television appearance.

He said: “It’s lovely that people recognise me more and, these days, it’s a big difference because I’ve had a bit of a renaissance and a good year, with the album doing really well and four legitimate hit singles from it.

“I still can’t believe that and it’s a bit like being on cloud nine, and then I did Big Brother, which kind of changed things a lot as I’ve now got these younger fans who, instead of just shouting one and only at me are asking about Big Brother.

“I’ve also been lucky to be involved with a lot of the artists from the 1980s who are called heritage artists and I’m kind of like the younger brother because of coming out when I did.”

Touring is something Chesney said he really enjoys and he said he always had a good time in the Midlands, which he put down to the vibe of the people.

He said: “Midlands gigs are great for a lot of reasons and I really like the Midlands because there are some lovely areas and they’re a really good crowd as well and always up for a laugh.

“There’s parts of the country where you know you’re going to get a good reaction and the Midlands is one of them, as the south can be a bit hit and miss, and it gets crazy when you go places like Glasgow, but the Midlands is just right.”

Having lived several different lives and having had ups and downs in his career, Chesney said there was a lot he’d learned as a person and as a musician.

He said: “A couple of things come to mind in this business, such as one of the things my dad said to me at an early age, but I wasn’t listening as I was a kid and, when I look back, it’s exactly right  and what young artists should hear when they come onto the scene, which is don’t believe the hype.

“People will say you’re the best thing since sliced bread or you’re the new this or that, but what you need to remember is that it’s not real.

“Also, don’t believe the things people are saying about you, as there is the hate and the vitriolic stuff that comes out, especially with social media, which I didn’t have back in the day and it wasn’t heightened, but my advice is to not believe any of it and keep it in neutral.

“The next bit of advice I would give is keep it neutral with your mental health, as I try to find the things that bring me joy.

“When I get up in the morning, I am grateful for my wife and for my life as I’m still able to make a living out of slinging a guitar around my neck, but also the little things like my dog greeting me at the door, my daughter’s smile and even just going for a walk and hearing the birds and the breeze.

“I know it sounds cliché, but it’s so easy to think about negative things and life is going to throw things at you, but you can choose what you want to focus on and, for me, that’s my mental health and focusing on the things that make me happy and be grateful for them.

“It has all been worth it and everything that I’ve been through has brought me to where I am now and I’m just loving life.”

Chesney Hawkes plays at the 02 Academy Birmingham on Friday, March 20. Tickets and information can be found at the O2 Academy Birmingham website.