Fans of Australian rock icon Jimmy Barnes can now breathe a sigh of relief as the musician is awake and doing well following his major hip surgery.
Barnes’ daughter, Elly-May Barnes, shared the good news on social media on Tuesday night, December 13, writing that her “dadda is out of surgery and awake” alongside a photo of the 66-year-old rock star in his hospital bed.
“The doctors are very happy … Thanks for all the well wishes,” she wrote.
Many of Barnes’ fans were happy to receive the brief update regarding their favourite musician, with many leaving well wishes and words of encouragement for the singer.
The Working Class Man hitmaker was forced to cancel his upcoming Australian tour after doctors informed the singer that he was in urgent need of surgery.
Barnes said despite cancelling a show being “against my religion”, Barnes’ hip and back pain had left him in constant agony.
The singer attributed his health woes to a lifetime of jumping around on stage but was adamant about getting the issues fixed in order to continue rocking out with fans.
“I’ve been jumping off PA’s and stomping around stages for nearly 50 years, but it’s finally caught up with me,” Barnes said on social media.
“I’ve had niggling back and hip issues for years, but things suddenly got a lot worse over the last few weeks and I’m now in constant and severe pain.
“As everybody knows, it’s against my religion to blow out gigs but the Doctors tell me I need an operation as soon as possible and it will really limit my movement for a few months.
“As much as it kills me to inconvenience everyone, I have to get this fixed so I can jump around onstage for another 50 years.”
News of Barnes’ recovery comes a week after his first Christmas album, Blue Christmas, secured the top spot on the ARIA charts.
Barnes’ collection of Christmas classics beat out the likes of Mariah Carey, Michael Buble and WHAM to reach number one.
Blue Christmas is Barnes’ 20th studio album and his 15th to reach number one on the ARIA charts.
Upon learning of the achievement, Barnes said the album’s success “is a fantastic Christmas present”.
“I’m grateful to receive it. It’s been a rough week given that I’ve withdrawn from summer touring to have surgery,” Barnes said.
“I’d like to say that the warm reception for this album has put a spring in my step, but that would be a medical miracle right now.
“Instead, I’ll just say thanks to everyone who keeps listening to my new music and thank all the people behind the scenes for their help. I wish everyone the happiest of holidays and can’t wait to get back onstage next year.”