Get ready to rock with Ross Wilson

By Sheree Hoddinett  

While you may not necessarily know him by name, chances are you’ve definitely heard one of his songs. Ross Wilson, well remembered for his days with Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock, is gearing up to hit the stage on Bribie Island as part of his 50 Years of Hits Tour.  

With 2025 marking an incredible 60 years since his first local Melbourne hit single Louie Louie by his first band The Pink Finks, Wilson and his all-star band, The Peaceniks, continue touring relentlessly to celebrate more than 50 Years of Hits. This includes all the Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock favourites you’d expect (think Eagle Rock, Come Back Again, Come Said the Boy), along with the latest offering from an almost six-decade career, tracks from his latest EP on Bloodlines Records, She’s Stuck On Facebook All The Time, and everything else in between.  

With more than 150 shows listed on the tour which kicked off back in 2023, it just keeps on going and has become the biggest tour of Wilson’s career.  

“Well, it's a sort of never-ending tour, we just give it a new name every now and again,” Wilson said with a laugh. “But there's a few milestones we've reached along the way, so we thought we'd mention and recognise that, so we just keep going and adding more shows.”  

Given how long Wilson has been performing, it’s no surprise that his show audiences vary in their range of ages.  

“We have some older people at shows, like the Daddy Cool fans, quite a few of them are at that stage where they need to sit down, which is funny because Daddy Cool is a dance band,” Wilson said. “So that’s why now we do more of a theatre show. We still love hitting the pubs and we get a wider demographic at those venues, especially when people bring their kids along who may not have seen us before, but they all know my songs. They might not know I was the guy behind them, but as soon as they hear them, we have a great time. “That's one of the little things that we've had to kind of overcome. I mean, Ross Wilson's not exactly a show business name. I would have been better off calling myself Rock Wilson or something like that.” 

Another thing people may not realise about Wilson is that he has also written songs for other artists.  

“I actually wrote A Touch of Paradise for John Farnham,” Wilson said. “I’ve also written songs with Jimmy Barnes and Joe Cocker’s recorded one of my songs and as a songwriter that’s really satisfying when other people use your work, particularly when they’re of a high calibre.” 

With so many hits behind him, it’s hard to imagine Wilson would actually have a favourite song to perform, but he does. 

“I'm quite fond of Cool World, which is one I wrote with Mondo Rock,” he said. “And of course, Eagle Rock because I consider that as sort of the foundation of everything that has come along since. I wouldn't be talking to you now if Eagle Rock hadn't been a hit. I'd probably be in obscurity somewhere. But we give credit where credit's due and the members of Daddy Cool, they were the only guys that could make that song sound any good, other than my band I have now, that I've schooled in how to play that song. The Daddy Cool one is still around and getting played on the radio because it's got a certain kind of magic about it.” 

Wilson admits to having a lot of respect for his audience and that he very much enjoys being able to perform. While he doesn’t get nervous before he hits the stage, Wilson does worry he may forget song lyrics. Not bad for someone aged in their 70s and still hitting the road! Once upon a time, Wilson was almost destined for another path, having been accepted to study at agriculture college, but it seems the music world had other ideas.  

“I was already involved with bands at that time and I didn’t want to leave the city, I wanted to keep playing music. So that was a big decision I had to make,” Wilson said. 

Starting out as a young musician and working his way to the top, what kind of advice does Wilson have for other aspiring artists out there? He recommends listening to the advice of others, but maintaining your own path as well.  

“Just keep doing your thing, even though you’ll have ups and downs,” Wilson explains. “But if you have got the talent, believe me, you’ll be spotted very quickly because there’s a lot of mediocrity out there. It's like the food pyramid, bad food at the bottom, in the middle there's sort of okay things and at the top, that’s where all the good stuff is. And you can go from the bottom to the top very quickly, especially if you are good.” 

Along with continuing his big tour, 2025 will see Wilson performing at the Mundi Mundi Bash in Broken Hill in August and also heading to Greece for some down time with his wife. 

“It keeps me busy, but you know I’m pretty happy with my life,” Wilson said. “I'm quite fit, I go to the gym and I’ve got a trainer. For an old guy, I'm doing pretty well. 

“Lots of singing keeps my voice in shape and hanging around with a younger crowd (Wilson’s daughter is part of a band called Gut Health), that certainly helps too.” 

Don’t miss your chance to see Ross Wilson performing at the Bribie Island Hotel on Friday February 21 from 8pm. For further information, visit https://www.rosswilson.com.au/index.php/gigs/