Bon Jovi planning hiatus in 2011

Friday, November 26, 2010 » 02:18pm

Jon Bon Jovi has hinted his band could be planning a hiatus from rock when their current world tour ends next year.

The frontman of one of the world's biggest rock bands has admitted he's exhausted from touring and needs a rest.

'It's time. We have to go to bed,' says the 48-year-old, who is due in Australia early next month for concerts in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

In Sydney, the band will also perform a private gig expected to be attended by another visiting star, Oprah Winfrey, and the 300 guests she's bringing to Australia, as well as other international acts and VIPs.

Bon Jovi are currently on a two-year world tour to promote their 11th studio album, The Circle, and their latest offering Greatest Hits, a double album released this month featuring four new songs.

But the sheer magnitude of the tour, which began in the US in February this year, has forced the rocker to stop and take stock.

'When you're going to places that they don't have their own electricity and you say, 'Don't worry, we'll bring our own', it's time to take a break.'

But fans need not fear that the move away from the stage could be more permanent, with the singer insisting he's not ready to retire anytime soon.

'For an old man who has no plastic surgery, still has all his own hair and wears a 30-inch waist, I'm doing OK,' he says.

With a career spanning almost three decades, Bon Jovi have sold more than 120 million albums and performed more than 2,600 concerts around the world.

Australia is one of 30 countries the band will visit during their current world tour, and guitarist Richie Sambora has promised local fans a great concert experience.

'We're bringing the most amazing production, there's going to be a high-definition screen behind us that's 55 feet (16 metres) high and 115 feet (35 metres) long so everybody gets very close and personal to the band and it becomes an intimate kind of experience,' he told AAP in July.

Bon Jovi's Australian tour kicks off in Perth on December 8, before heading to Melbourne on December 10 and 11, Brisbane on December 14 and Sydney from December 17-19. Most of the concerts are sold out, but a small number of tickets are still available for the Sydney shows.

The private gig at Sydney's Star City will be held on December 15.