Go West frontman Peter Cox to play Torbay on new UK tour

For someone whose voice has filled arenas, topped charts and become part of the soundtrack to millions of lives, Peter Cox is surprisingly modest about the journey that brought him here.

Despite more than 40 years in the spotlight as one half of Go West, he is still faintly amused by the idea that anyone might consider him a star.

“If you’d told me back then that I’d end up as one half of Go West, making videos for MTV and winning a Brit Award, I’d probably have laughed and changed the subject,” he says with a wry smile. “I was just a bloke who loved being in the studio with his mates. That was the dream.”

Four decades on, that ‘bloke’ is preparing for one of the most personal chapters of his career: the publication of his new book — a reflective, personal, heartfelt memoir — and a new UK theatre tour that promises to bring fans closer than ever to the stories — and the man — behind the songs.

This isn’t a tale of swagger, excess or rock and roll mythology. It is something more reflective: the portrait of a man who never chased fame but found it anyway — and is still making sense of it.

Go West arrived on the charts with hits including We Close Our Eyes, Call Me, Faithful and The King of Wishful Thinking, which featured on the soundtrack to the Pretty Woman.

The band’s debut album Go West sold 1.5 million copies worldwide and remained on the UK chart for 83 weeks, establishing Cox and songwriting partner Richard Drummie as one of the most successful duos to emerge from the 1980s. A Brit Award followed, alongside platinum and gold discs during a recording career spanning four decades.

Now Cox is looking back on that journey with his most personal project yet.

His new theatre show, We Close Our Eyes… And Other Stories, will revisit the hits while reflecting on recording for a Rocky IV soundtrack project linked to Sylvester Stallone, teaming up with Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet, selling out the London Palladium and continuing to perform internationally.

The tour opens at Workington’s Carnegie Theatre on 3 April and runs until 27 November. Cox will appear at the Palace Theatre in Paignton on Friday 9 October.

His memoir, King of Overthinking, is illustrated with photographs from his personal archive and will be accompanied by newly released music on vinyl or CD.

“As naïve as it sounds, my motivation has only ever been the music,” Cox says. “I didn’t think for a second about what it might be like to be ‘famous’. I was happy in the studio with my mates, writing melodies, singing harmonies, hoping that the songs would speak for themselves.

“I’ve been blessed, truly, to have had people around me who saw something in me that I didn’t always see in myself. Richard Drummie, my longtime Go West musical partner and brother in arms, was one of the first.”

He adds: “There were producers who coaxed — even bullied — the best out of me, a manager who fought our corner time and again, a true A&R saviour, and wonderful fans who lifted us higher than we could ever have imagined. The pressure of performance, the scrutiny of fame and the weight of expectation have often weighed heavily on me. In spite of all that, my love for what I do has always kept me going.”

In the book, Cox discusses leaning on Drummie’s confidence and the pair’s split after a show at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, before reuniting in 2000 following a plea from former manager John Glover.

“I’ve learnt that being a frontman is about communication. It’s about vulnerability. It’s about standing in front of an audience and saying, ‘This is who I am. These are my stories’.

“I’ve never felt entirely at ease in the role, but I’ve come to appreciate its enormous privilege.”

He also reflects on appearing in ITV’s Reborn in the USA, describing lockdown during the Covid pandemic as “an unexpectedly creative and constructive time”, becoming frontman for Manfred Mann's Earth Band and receiving advice backstage from Leo Sayer.

Reflecting on his 40-plus year career, he says: “It’s been a long, thrilling, frustrating and exciting road — and I still see it stretching out ahead of me.”

The tour promises reimagined arrangements of well-known hits, deeper cuts and spoken reflections.

“There’s nothing quite like hearing your song on the radio for the first time,” Cox says. “It’s disbelief, pride, terror, and joy all at once.”

“I’ve spent a lifetime singing these songs. Now I want to talk about them. Where they came from — what they meant then, and what they mean to me now.”

Describing the show as “part concert, part conversation”, he adds: “I hope people will leave feeling as if they’ve spent an evening with me — not just watched me perform.”

Gratitude, he says, runs through both projects.

“Every collaborator, every critic, every champion, every challenger — they’ve all shaped me. This is an opportunity to acknowledge them.

“If I’m pressed, though, I would say — make sure you’re doing it for the love of it. If you do it for fame or money, there’s every chance you’ll be disappointed. If you’re doing it for the love of making music, even when setbacks come — which they will — you’ll still be doing what you love, and that in itself is priceless.”

He also has a message for long-time fans.

“They’ve grown up with us. Some brought their kids to shows. Some bring their grandkids now! That’s extraordinary. You don’t take that for granted. I’m grateful. For the music, for the fans, for the journey. I never expected any of this — but I’m glad it happened and I’m so glad I get to keep sharing it now.

“I hope I have a lot more performing in me. There’s something magical about walking out onto a stage and singing songs that have lived with people for decades. What a privilege!”