Cherie Currie Talks 2024 UK & Ireland Tour, Her Voice And More

When did you begin songwriting and recording music?

1975 when I joined The Runaways.

You will be embarking on a 13-date tour of UK and Eire for November and December 2024. How are you feeling about the tour?

I’ve always felt very much at home on the road because of the fans. Performing the older songs are nostalgic. It allows us all to venture back to a better time and relive memories of our childhood.

Are there any venues/locations on this tour which hold any significance to you?

I go where the fans are. When you’re doing back to back shows you don’t get the opportunity to get to know any one place.

Who will be in your live touring band?

Alexx Michaels always puts the band together for me. Not sure who’ll be on this tour.

Given your back catalogue in The Runaways and your solo work, is it difficult picking a setlist? Do you have a specific song selection process?

We try to change up the set every tour. There are always the favourites from my Runaways days which are standard fare, then we experiment with my newer material and add a couple remakes. And Bowie, because he was my muse, we will drop one of his into the set.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals etc?

Just my voice.

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

San Fernando Valley, California. Used to be amazing. Lots of farmland, orchards, horseback riding. Now all the magic, like most places, is gone. Overbuilt and overrun. My son, Jake Hay’s just turned 33 and did get a chance to live a simpler childhood. Life with computers and cell phones has taken so much from kids these days. Yes, this open you up to vast knowledge but it’s all-consuming and just being a kid is lost. There’s always consequences.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

I used to be an avid reader but once I picked up a chainsaw 24 years ago that fell to the wayside.

Who are some of your musical influences?

Bowie, Suzi Quatro.

How do you look after your voice?

Crazy thing is, I don’t sing much. Only when I do session work or stage performances. I’ve been lucky. My voice is far better than it’s ever been.

What makes Cherie Currie happy and what makes you unhappy?

Performing with my son has become the greatest times for me and with his own career now, that’s rare. His band is backing me at the iconic Whisky a Go-Go on November 1st. Looking very forward to that.

What makes me unhappy is seeing so MUCH unhappiness in the world. That sounds cliché but I honestly believe children’s childhoods are being hijacked. They are being introduced to things in school that have no place in my opinion. This world is bad enough when you’re an adult. Let kids have a childhood.