Former teen idol Shaun Cassidy is set to kick off his first major tour in 45 years.
The 66-year-old, son of 91-year-old Oscar-winning actress Shirley Jones and the late Tony Award-winning actor Jack Cassidy, shot to fame in the mid-to-late 1970s as a pop sensation, following in the footsteps of his late half-brother, David Cassidy.
Alongside his music career, Cassidy also found success on screen, starring as Joe Hardy in the popular ABC series “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.”
After stepping away from the spotlight decades ago, he shifted his focus to a successful career behind the scenes as a television writer and producer. Now, Cassidy is making a long-awaited return to the stage, launching his first arena tour since 1980.
Shaun Cassidy is set to launch his first major tour in 45 years. (John Atashian/Getty Images; Brad Elterman/Getty Images)
In an interview with People magazine, Cassidy revealed that he’s been sharpening his guitar skills and relearning his own hits as he gears up to hit the road again.
“I literally had to take guitar lessons. I hadn’t played guitar in so long,” he admitted. “I had to relearn songs I had written. I didn’t know how to play them.”
For this upcoming tour, Cassidy is taking on a new challenge by playing bass instead of guitar. He also shared that, after decades away from the stage, his old songs feel fresh again.
“Because I haven’t been singing them for 40 years, they’re not dead to me. They feel new, and I’m only singing the songs I really liked back then that feel appropriate to me singing now,” he explained. “I can sing better than I sang when I was 20 because I haven’t been singing. I think I didn’t burn my voice out for 40 years.”
Cassidy’s 50-city “The Road to Us Tour” — the longest of his career — kicks off on September 13 at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. The tour will span his full career, blending classic hits, new music, and personal stories.
The former teen idol confessed that he had to take guitar lessons and relearn his own songs
The setlist will feature Cassidy’s cover of “Da Doo Ron Ron,” originally recorded in 1963 by the girl group The Crystals. The track was the first single released from Cassidy’s self-titled debut album in 1977 and became his breakout hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and earning him a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist.
However, Cassidy revealed to People that the chart-topping single wasn’t his personal choice to launch his music career.
“I liked the song. It was my idea to record it,” Cassidy explained.
“But that wasn’t the song I wanted to be the first single off my album,” he continued. “I didn’t get a vote, and I guess they were right. It went to No. 1. It was a big record, but there were like three or four other songs I would’ve preferred or chosen. And by the way, that’s been the case with every record I’ve made.”
Cassidy’s tour will kick off on September 13 at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
Despite growing up in a show business family, Cassidy admitted that he never felt entirely comfortable in the spotlight during his years as a teen heartthrob.
“I’ve never enjoyed being a public figure. I don’t like all the attention. I’m basically an introvert. I don’t really like being famous,” he told People. “But the only thing more ridiculous than being famous is being formerly famous, because you’re still famous, but a lot of people don’t necessarily know why anymore. And if it were up to me, I’d prefer neither of those things.”
For years, Cassidy avoided touring because he feared trying to recreate his younger self.
“I don’t want to [tour] because I’ll just be trying to replicate some version of myself at 20, which I always thought would be embarrassing, and why try?” he said.
“But I discovered, and the audience told me this, that I didn’t need to do that because I actually had all these other cards I could play,” he added. “Now, I’m a storyteller.”
