An Interview with Nik Kershaw
By Steve Crabtree, June 2026
Nik Kershaw was hugely succesful in the mid-80s with hits like ‘I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’, ‘Wide Boy’ and ‘Wouldn’t It Be Good?’. He had one of the haircuts of the time, gave us some memorable music videos, and always seemed to be on the radio. He’s written songs for a host of other big-name artists and is still writing and recording his own music, as well as touring all these years later.
Long-term fan Steve Crabtree talked to Nik ahead of his 6 in 26 UK tour, which kicks off in Sheffield in July…
Steve Crabtree: Hi Nik – it’s great to speak to you again, and an absolute honour. How’s life treating you at the moment?
Nik Kershaw: Hi Steve. Well, life’s been been very good to me. Yeah, I’m I’m very blessed. Thanks for asking.
SC: That’s good – and you’ve got a tour coming up, you’re looking really well. But this tour is to celebrate 50 years of you being an adult, I believe? How has that come around so quickly?
NK: Well, you know, it is I think promoters love a tag line or a title for a tour. When, sometimes, there really isn’t much of a reason other than we want to play some shows. I’ve got a big sort of solo tour next year, I had one last year as well. So, this year, we’re doing loads of festivals, but we’re not really doing any shows that we can get our teeth stuck into, you know. Because festivals are like 20 minutes to 40 minutes, occasionally we’ll play one for an hour or whatever. But mostly it’s a very short concert. So, we just thought it’d be great to get out and do some headline shows and play some songs that we want to play, you know. So, yeah, just a sort of stupid excuse to do a tour, like the 50th anniversary of me passing my driving test or whatever!
Image taken from interview with Steve Crabtree
“It’s always good to come to Sheffield”
SC: Well, you’re doing six shows on this tour, 6 in ’26, and you’re kicking off in Sheffield. I know that we love you coming to Yorkshire, but is there any reason that you’ve decided to to start in Sheffield and and work your way around the circuit from there?
NK: In all honesty, it’s just the way that the cards came out, you know. You’re looking for venues on certain dates and these were the ones that came up, and they came up in this order. But yeah, it’s always good to come to Sheffield. I’ve loved shows I’ve done there before, but I’ve never played The Foundry. So, I’m looking forward to that.
SC: So, let’s go back, not quite 50 years, let’s go back 40 years. Mid-80s, you were on you’re on Top of the Pops, you’re on the cover of Look-In magazine, you were a star of the of the time. But did you ever imagine that way into the next century you’d still be touring, you’d still be recording, you’d still be in the music business?
NK: Well, the smart answer to that question is no, but at the time when you’re in that little bubble of yours, you kind of think you’re indestructible and actually you probably will be around in…well, you’re not thinking that far ahead to be honest. But yeah, you’re thinking it’s not going to end, that’s for sure. But now, you know, in hindsight, it’s absolutely bonkers that I’m still singing these songs and that people are coming and and still enjoying them, it’s extraordinary.
“It’s been a lot of fun”
SC: I think the thing is that, back in that era, it was always about talent. It was always about good songwriting, sounding good and it’s not just yourself but a lot of your peers have stood the test of time. They’re still out there doing their thing. Do you keep in touch with with many of those artists from that era?
NK: Well, quite a few of them I’ve kind of got to know in the last sort of 20 years or so. Not from back in the day because everybody was so busy and everybody’s routines were so hectic that you never got to spend any time with anybody. So, yeah, I’ve made some pretty good friendships with some of my peers in the last 20 years, and it’s been been a lot of fun. I mean, you’re bumping into each other in the middle of fields during the summer quite often, yeah, in various parts of the UK and in Europe as well.
SC: It’s not just about Nik Kershaw the singer, is it? Because you’ve got a massive songwriting career too. Gary Barlow, Chesney Hawkes, Lulu, Cliff Richard, you’ve got you’ve got quite a quite an array of friends there. Was it Elton John that said you were one of the best songwriters of your generation? That’s got to be quite the accolade.
NK: That is, yeah. That quote has followed me about for the last 40 years basically! And my PR people love to get their hands on that quote. There was a point at which I was doubting that he really did say that, but I was mixing some a gig from 1984 for The Old Grey Whistle Test’s New Year’s Eve gig, right, and Richard Skinner walks on stage to introduce me and he uses that quote because Elton had just said it. So, it happened! It really did…he really did say that!
SC: Hey, you’re going to take it, aren’t you?
NK: I’ll take it, yeah, absolutely!
“There will be some songs we haven’t played for ages”
SC: Back to the tour – it starts in Sheffield on the 9th of July and without giving anything away, have we got any surprises in store? Have we got anything that the fans are going to are going to absolutely love?
NK: Well, there’ll be some songs we haven’t played for some time, yeah. I’m obviously going to play the hits, I’m not an idiot! And, anyway, I love playing them, so it’s that’s not an issue. But yeah, I just sort put a setlist together and present it to the band and say, this is what we’re going to do. But this time I’ve asked the band, because they’ve been with me with me for a long time now and I said, what are any songs you miss playing, you want to play, you fancy playing? So, I’ve got I’ve got a short list of those that will be included in the in the set as well. So, we haven’t quite decided exactly what, but yeah, there will be some songs we haven’t played for ages.
SC: Oh, that’s good, Well, I’m coming to the Sheffield one so I’m looking I’m looking forward to the set. With that in mind, you play the the hits but is there any song in there that you feel you have to play for the fans where you think, “I just wish they didn’t like that one, I’m fed up with it?
NK: Do you know what, nowadays, no. There isn’t one song. There was a period round about the end of the 90s, beginning of the 2000s when when I was bringing out new music for the first time for a long time and I poured a lot of time and energy and and love into the these new songs. And, all the attention was still on the 80s and those songs, the haircuts and the clothes and all that nonsense. And at that point they were a bit of a monkey on my back, those songs, I’ve got to admit. So the mistake I made was to start messing about with them when we played them live just to keep them interesting for me and the band. And then it suddenly occurs to you, based on the expressions of the audience when you’re when you’re playing these songs, the reaction is that, you know, these aren’t your songs anymore. They don’t belong to me, they belong to the fans. How dare I change the songs around?
SC: All of a sudden, it’s not about you, it’s about them
NK: Yeah, exactly. So, I kind of I thought, oh yeah, I get it, okay. So, now we play them pretty much as the record because people want to hear the record, that’s what they want to hear. And I love doing it now because I’m just kind of so grateful to those songs for how they’ve completely informed my whole career, really. And enabled me to do the things I would never have been able to do.
“There are thousands of songs out there I wished I’d written”
SC: Fantastic. Nik, last time we spoke was probably seven years ago. I asked you then if you could pick one of your songs to be covered by anybody, dead or alive. I asked who would it be and why and you picked ‘Wouldn’t It Be Good?’ – covered by Foo Fighters because it was your first hit and they would nail it.
NK: Okay. Oh, right.
SC: So, I’m going to flip this round a little bit and ask if there’s one song out there that you wish that you’d written and recorded that you’re pretty jealous of that that it isn’t a Nik Kershaw song. If so, which is it and why?
NK: There are thousands of songs out there I wished I’d written. So, that’s a really tricky one. Just to to pick one out of the hat, I don’t know…’Simply the Best’. Well, ‘The Best’ it’s called…Tina Turner. And that’s only just coming to back into my consciousness quite recently because I was in Lanzarote and it was karaoke night and a friend of mine got up and sung it, and I thought, what? And he nailed it, annd what a what a perfect, perfect song that is. It’s just..it’s just..yeah. Brilliant.
SC: You’re not going cover that on the tour now that we’ve chatted about it, are you?
NK: Well, you’re putting ideas in my head now, Steve! Who knows? Who knows what can happen. Cheeky little cover!
SC: Well, thanks Nik. I can’t wait to see you in Sheffield. All the best with the tour – I hope it goes well and all the best for the rest of the for the rest of the summer.
NK: Brilliant. See you see you in the summer…Ta-da, mate.
Nik Kershaw plays Sheffield Foundry on 9th July. The show kicks off his 6 in 26 tour
Buy tickets for Nik Kershaw from nikkershaw.net
Give Steve music, give him food, give him theatre, tech or travel… and he’s a happy man. He’s been writing professionally since 2003, turning to journalism in 2017 when it offered him the chance to enjoy a lot of his existing passions, and learn some new ones at the same time. Steve can be found spending many of his summer nights watching bands at The Piece Hall in his hometown of Halifax, or enjoying a bite to eat and a drink with his wife anywhere in Yorkshire at any time of year. Random fact: He does the best impression of Zippy and George from Rainbow that anyone has ever heard.
