Tom Jones, 78, has had a successful career lasting six decades. Still going strong as a judge on ITV’s The Voice, the Welshman is also preparing to embark on an international tour starting next month. Beginning in the US, Sir Tom will travel to 12 countries in total during his tour, with numerous dates announced in the UK. This comes despite being forced to pull out of five concert dates during his 2018 tour due to ill health. At the time, it was announced on his Twitter page he was fighting a bacterial infection, for which he was being treated in hospital.
Sir Tom revealed to the Mirror: “I was on the road and when we got to London, I was feeling weak.
“I wasn’t getting so good and they said, ‘You had better get checked, your blood and everything’.”
He explained he had “everything checked”, leading to the discovery of a bacterial infection which resulted in him having to stay in hospital for four days.
He added: “I just didn’t feel good and they said you need antibiotics. So they gave it intravenously and that was it.
“If it had happened at another time, nobody would have taken any notice. I would have gone in for a couple of days and that would have been it. But I had to cancel shows. So that was a big deal.”
But what is a bacterial infection?
As the name suggests, a bacterial infection is an infection caused by bacteria in the body.
Examples of bacterial infections include whooping cough, ear infections and urinary tract infections.
They are usually treated with antibiotics, which either kill the bacteria or stop them from multiplying.
Bacterial infections can be spread, and caught, through coughing, sneezing, close contact with infected people or animals and contact with contained surfaces, food and water.
Infections can be acute and short-lived, or can be chronic and last for weeks, months or even a lifetime. They can also cause mild, moderate and severe diseases.
In late 2017, Sir Tom also revealed he had undergone hip replacement surgery due to damaged cartilage in his left hip.
He had been experiencing pain in his hip while touring across Europe that summer. While it didn’t lead to him cancelling any shows, he decided to get it checked out when he finished the tour.
“I didn’t miss a show because I was leaning more on my right leg. It was getting on and off the stage that was giving me trouble. You can’t limp onto the stage, you have to try and make an entrance,” the singer told the Mirror in 2017.
“I got back to London and my surgeon said the cartilage is gone in my left hip, the bones are just crunching together.”
Sir Tom has announced 12 dates for the UK leg of his 2019 tour, where he will be performing in London, Peterborough, Bristol, Taunton, Colchester, Dundee and Penrith.