Singer Tony Christie's voice is 'better than ever' despite dementia diagnosis

The Yorkshire crooner, 81, achieved a 'lifelong dream' by recording a country album in Nashville, USA, which peaked at number two in the charts. He needs an autocue in case he forgets the lyrics to his songs and he works with the same small band on stage who can support him and spot when he's struggling.

But he says gig goers who have been watching him for years tell him his voice sounds better than ever.

He said: "It's amazing, the dementia doesn't seem to have affected my performance at all, or my singing. My voice is still there. Some people who have been watching me for years even say I sound better than ever.

"People have played my music to their kids, who have played it to their kids, so I'm getting three different age groups at my shows now. And people have discovered me through this new album and coming to see me and working through my back catalogue."

Tony, famed for 1970s hit Amarillo, went public with his diagnosis last year to help others recognise the symptoms, but he insists dementia should not be perceived as a 'death sentence' and says singing is a great therapy for his dementia.

Tony, whose European tour will see him perform in Germany throughout May, added: "It's important, it's what I love to do and music is one of the best therapies for it. I'm one of those, I'm a workaholic, I love working so it's great to be able to carry on and it's going great. It's what I want to keep doing for as long as possible.

"My wife is with me everywhere. In the early days, with having kids, we couldn't travel together, you had to leave the wife at home with the kids. She's my biggest fan, she sits in the crowd and loves to sing along and hear the positive things the crowd are saying. It's great to still be touring at my age, but having the family come with me makes it extra special."

We Still Shine, his 11 track album released earlier this year, peaked at number two on the Official Country Artists Albums Chart. He says he's attracted a new audience to gigs after a surge in popularity for the genre after Beyonce released a country-inspired album.

He said: "Country is huge at the moment and some big people are recording country music. It's great that it's massive at the moment. I've loved country music all my life but I've never been able to do it because having hits with pop records, if I suggested to the record label in the 70s, they'd have said no.

"They allowed me to slip one or two on a track, but I would never have been able to do a full album."

The Sheffield-born star even recorded a second album last year in the states, which will see some of his legendary hits re-imagined.

He added: "We've been going to Nashville since 2006 and I've been thinking about trying this for the last 15 years going backwards and forwards over there. It was like a dream to be there playing, every musician on that album are all stars, they've played for everyone.

"There was Dolly Parton's musical director and he's playing guitar for me. We had three weeks in Nashville to make an album, but we finished it in three days.

"We'd booked the studio for three weeks so we decided to re-record a lot of my older hits and do them re-imagined. Amarillo became like a gospel version, it sounds great. We'll be looking to release that next year."

Tony says he will will never tire of singing Amarillo - written by Neil Sedaka - which racked up a million sales when it first entered the charts in 1971.

It became a hit again in 2002 when it featured in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights and soared to number one in 2005 when it was released as a Comic Relief single.

He added: "I could never get bored of it. I wish I'd got one of those songs every five or ten years. It's a floor filler. Every DJ I've ever met says if they're having problems getting people up dancing, they stick that on and it works a treat."

Tony is an ambassador for Music for Dementia, a charity set up to support the carers who devote their lives to looking after people suffering from the condition.

On Wednesday (May 1) he helped launch its 'give it a go' campaign to encourage carers to give music a try as part of dementia care as it can trigger responses in sufferers.

It's close to Tony's heart as he was told by a specialist the fact he's constantly listening to music and singing is one of the best things that slows dementia down.

The charity is urging people - no matter their musical talent - to 'give music a go' in a bid to lift the mood during tough moments caused by dementia.

Tony's wife Sue said: "I may have a terrible singing voice but I always join in and our house is filled with music. On more difficult days, it lightens the mood and on happier days, it makes us dance."

Tony himself has driven a digital billboard van around his hometown of Lichfield to raise awareness of the campaign. From today, digital billboards will be seen in major cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow.

Music for Dementia's MD Sarah Metcalfe said: "Musical ability doesn't matter, you could be a concert pianist or somebody who hasn't got a musical note in their body. Being a carer can be stressful, lonely and exhausting, but music can help.

"Music can raise your spirits when things look bleak, it can manage stress and agitation, it can spark memories and create moments of joy. Just singing a song or finding a tune on your phone can turn a difficult moment around and get you through the day."