Swimming, chin ups, bicep curls and crunches. Status Quo legend Francis Rossi has revealed his gruelling daily fitness regime to get fighting fit to perform in Aberdeen.
At 73 years old the evergreen singer and guitarist is showing no signs of slowing down ahead of Quo’s headline show at P&J Live on Friday November 25.
That longevity is no fluke. Gone are the rock n’ roll excesses in favour of a rigid fitness routine.
As we talk ahead of the Granite City show Francis is feeling a pang of guilt for not meeting his minimum daily length quota at his home swimming pool.
He’ll make up for it the next day as he admits: “It’s so easy to give in to yourself. I can’t do that.”
Which is why the singer will be at the top of his game when fronting the rock icons in Aberdeen.
Francis said: “This (fronting Status Quo) is a physical gig. During lockdown I started swimming as I have a pool at home. I started doing bicep curls, crunches and chin ups.
“However, I wrenched too hard and did something to my right shoulder which I was having treatment for. My right bicep also only has one tendon linked to it so the second bicep doesn’t work.
“My left bicep is normal and the right looks like a golf ball. It means I can’t lift right with that arm. Old people stuff,” he laughs.
Envious of ‘uncle’ Mick Jagger
Status Quo headline P&J Live as part of their Out Out Quoing tour with support from 80s chart legend Shakin’ Stevens.
The band have racked up worldwide record sales in excess of 118 million and registered more hit singles than any band in UK chart history.
Status Quo were famously the first act on stage at Live Aid.
When Francis picks up the phone to me he is singing Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? to me.
‘Feed the World, Let them know it’s Christmas time’. “Oh sorry”, he laughed. “Lost track of time there.”
It is not only his body that remains sharp. His razor sense of humour is intact.
He said: “I am very envious of uncle Mick Jagger as he is probably the fittest person in showbusiness.
“He really does it as a strict regime and will not falter from it.
“All credit to him. I am envious of him in that respect as he is so fit.”
‘I feel fit again lung wise, leg wise’
The need to retain a high level of fitness was underlined for Francis during the coronavirus lockdown.
It was the longest time since forming the band in 1962 he had been away from performing live.
When Status Quo returned to the stage this February it was the first time they had performed since the Radio 2 Festival in a Day at Hyde Park, London in front of 65,000 fans.
Following that, the largely sold-out Backbone Winter Tour of 2020 was cancelled in its entirety due to Covid-19.
Francis said: “I started painting sheds, finding rooms in the house to decorate like I did when I was first married. There was no pressure. Other than we weren’t earning money but there was nothing I could do about it.
“The tricky thing was coming back as we had never been off for more than two or three months before that. This time we had been off for three years.
“We managed to get two or three weeks rehearsal in. Then on the left-hand index finger at the side a big bump comes up. And the shoulder hurts. I never realised that before is where the strap sits. The breathing is different. It suddenly came home to me how physical it is.”
The joy of playing live in Scotland
He is also a fan of P&J Live.
He said: “The new P&J Live has lovely catering and nice dressing rooms. The old place (Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre) was really a shed where they had caravans for dressing rooms and beside that an open area for catering.
“I remember Travis came to see us there and were introduced to us. They were very nice people. There’s another bloke called Francis (Fran Healy, Travis singer) in the business but he’s not brave enough to go the full name, he only goes by Fran.
“We have been really lucky since we were very young that the Scottish took to us.
“They say if a Scot likes you great, but if they don’t get out the way. That’s fair enough. You know where you stand.
“It’s always a joy for being in Scotland as the audience are so warm and welcoming.”
For information and tickets for Status Quo and Shakin’ Stevens at P&J Live go to pandjlive.com
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