Former Ultravox frontman Midge Ure vows never to quit music ahead of new tour

MIDGE URE has vowed never to quit as he kicks off his new tour on his 64th birthday.

But the former Ultravox frontman admits he was shocked by last week’s death of American rocker Tom Petty, who suffered a cardiac arrest.

“Most people retire from dull jobs to do something they enjoy but what the hell would I find that’s as good as this?” he said.

“Absolutely nothing. It doesn’t make any sense for me to retire.

“As long as I’m healthy and I still have a desire to do this I’m giving none of this up at all.

“I still have the ability and writing new material’s not a hardship, it’s a hobby.

“It’s always horrible when you hear about somebody dying. But when it happens to someone like Tom at 66, just a couple of years older than I am, that’s really frightening.

“It hits home. In his case it wasn’t abuse, drugs or alcohol, just something that can happen to anybody walking down the street.

“That’s scary and it brings it all home and puts you in touch with your own mortality. But it’s not going to stop me doing what I do.

“I still want to be writing music and getting out there to play.”

The new tour opens at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Tuesday and has dates in both Edinburgh and Dundee later this month. He’ll be playing his most-loved hits like If I Was, Fade To Grey and Vienna and the tour also features Altered Images and The Christians.

Midge will enjoy the birthday treat of having wife Sheridan – they have three daughters, Kitty, Ruby and Flossie – with him for the day.

“I’ll probably spend it wandering round my favourite guitar shops and then doing whatever Sheridan wants to be there.

“I’ve probably done 100 gigs this year all over the world, so I am away a lot. But now that our youngest is 18, it gives Sheridan the flexibility to jump on a plane and come with me.

“She came to Venice a couple of weeks ago and did all the art galleries while we sat around and did all the sound checks.”

Midge admits that just being in his hometown on his birthday is a gift.

And despite the fact that he’s now based in Bath and has lived away from Glasgow for longer than he ever lived in the city, it’s still very much where his heart lies.

“The city may have changed but the character hasn’t changed one iota.

“It’s still where I consider to be home. I wander round the streets that I used to walk round when I was dreaming of doing this.

“That’s not a nostalgia thing, it’s a reminder that I’m a lucky devil to have got what I wished for. That keeps my feet firmly on the ground.

“I filmed in Cambuslang, where I was born, for The One Show a few months back. I couldn’t go down the high street without people coming up and asking how the kids were on telling me they knew my auntie, which was glorious stuff.

“The accent may have softened over the years but where I was born and bred will never leave me.”