“I look at my role as being a friend of Canberra Hospital, I can bring some pleasure and happiness sometimes to people who are really in difficult times in their lives.”
With backing music from a Bluetooth speaker, Sayer croons his way around the cancer wards, making a human connection with everyone he comes across.
Canberra Region Cancer Centre Operations Manager Caroline McIntyre says Sayer’s visits are typically kept a surprise for patients and staff.
“He’s always come in so discreetly,” she says.
“Normally it’s just very quiet, he comes up in the back lift and says hello to literally everybody.
“Some of them are doing it tough, and to have a little bit of joy and light – it really gives them a lift.
“What makes me happy is to see people getting chemo on their feet dancing.”
Jamming with Jimi Hendrix, Countdown and the Troubadour
Originally a graphic designer by trade, English-born Leo Sayer rose to pop prominence in London in the late 1960s, as a singer-songwriter – and was soon adopted by Australia as an honorary son after his first tour here in 1974.
He went on to become an Australian citizen in 2009.
Sayer was a regular on ABC TV’s Countdown during the 70s and 80s, performing chart-toppers like “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”, “When I Need You”, “More Than I Could Say” and “Orchard Road”.
He blushingly admits they were wild days – when he didn’t always live up to his “good-guy” public persona.
“It was mad, I mean, Top of the Pops in England, Countdown over here,” he says.
“You were mobbed by the fans, I remember being dragged out of a limousine the first tour that I came here, and then speaking to crazy people like Molly Meldrum on TV and trying to sort of like take it all in.”
It seems hard to believe – the petite, well-spoken singer, with a mane of curly hair that inspired changing his name from Gerard to Leo – beating off mobs of screaming fangirls.
Sayer circulated in superstar company, becoming close friends with former Beatles George Harrison and Paul McCartney, collaborating with Roger Daltrey of The Who, and even sharing a sly cigarette or two with John Lennon and Yoko Ono who had a flat above his design studio.
“I met Jimi Hendrix right at the start of his career. I actually jammed with him, playing the harmonica, and him playing the guitar,” he says.
Recalling his 1975 opening night at the famous Troubadour Club in Los Angeles, he looked up to see an intimidating line-up of fans in the front row.
“It was David Bowie, Elton John, and ‘The Fonz’ [Henry Winkler].”
Alongside them: John Cleese, Mick Jagger, Bernie Taupin, and comedian Marty Feldman.
“We never thought it would last, we were adapting to things around us, writing songs about things that are around us,” he says.
“And we thought they were only for our generation — so the amazing thing is my music’s become like a fine wine, where you lay it down and years later, it becomes a collector’s item.
“We’re in an age where the music that I make, young kids are actually latching onto it now, and they’re finding that that generation and that style of music we made is as current now as anything.”
Sayer’s health battles, still spreading hope at 76
Leo Sayer says his hospital charity work caps off a career dedicated to providing joy through music.
“It’s a nice piece of synchronicity really, because I was born in the grounds of a hospital in Shoreham by Sea in Sussex, near Brighton in England,” Mr Sayer said.
“I suppose I’ve always felt comfortable in hospitals and being around hospitals.
“Growing up, my dad was a hospital engineer, Mum was a nurse, my sister was a matron.”
Sayer has health struggles of his own, including three stents in his heart, which help him have a genuine connection to the hospital patients he entertains.
“[My music] is providing something that isn’t taking away from any of the treatment that’s going on. It’s providing something that’s just putting a smile on peoples’ faces.
“Music is communication and that’s what this is all about, we’re communicating, we’re making people feel better.
“We’re not healing people with music, but we are making them feel better about their healing.
“To sell out Canberra Hospital will do me fine.”
He experienced a significant loss: Regardless of your opinions on Blake Shelton, he didn’t deserve this
Blake Shelton paid tribute to his late friend Joe Bonsall, who passed away recently. Joe was a longtime member of The Oak Ridge Boys, a celebrated country and gospel group, from 1973 until his death in 2024.
On Tuesday, Blake, 48, shared a heartfelt photo on his Instagram Stories of himself performing alongside The Oak Ridge Boys. While the exact details of the photo’s location and date are unclear, Blake expressed his sorrow over Joe’s passing, saying: “I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of my friend Joe Bonsall”.
He fondly recalled: “I have never seen Joe without a genuine smile on his face. He loved singing more than anyone I’ve ever met”. Blake extended his thoughts and prayers to Joe’s family and fellow bandmates, stating: “Today, we have all experienced the loss of someone truly important”.
In 2016, Blake and The Oak Ridge Boys collaborated on the song “Doing It to Country Songs”. Joe’s death was attributed to Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive condition affecting voluntary muscle control, which has no known cure. Fans became aware of Joe’s struggle with the illness in January 2024, four years after he announced his condition and retirement from the band.
Joe is survived by his daughters, Jennifer and Sabrina, from his marriage to Mary Ann, as well as two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The Bonsall family shared in a statement that Joe authored 11 books, with his memoir, I See Myself, scheduled for release in November. He cherished his time at the farm and was a devoted fan of the Philadelphia Phillies, but emphasized that his faith and family were his greatest priorities.
The Oak Ridge Boys, consisting of Joe, Richard Sterban, Duane Allen, and William Lee Golden, are famous for hits like “Elvira”, “Come On In” and “Bobbie Sue”. The band was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015 and has won five Grammy Awards. As the group embarks on a farewell tour that will last for about a few month, they reflect on their legacy, despite the original lineup no longer being intact. Joe’s love for music, reading, and writing, along with his skills on the banjo, will be fondly remembered by fans and loved ones alike.
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