'The only thing I forget is names!' Tony Christie can still perform despite his dementia diagnosis

Tony Christie can still perform despite his dementia diagnosis.

The 'Is This The Way To Amarillo?' hitmaker - who turned 80 years old on Tuesday (25.04.23) - revealed that he was in "early stages of the memory loss condition earlier this year and has now explained that the diagnosis came about when he remarked to his wife Sue that he was suddenly struggling to do his usual crossword puzzles but is still able to take to the stage for his shows.

Speaking on UK TV show 'This Morning', he said: "One of my big things for 50 years has been crosswords, cryptic words. That was my big hobby but suddenly I was starting to have problems doing them. I said to my wife 'What's wrong? Are they making it more difficult or is it me?' She said 'Let's go see a specialist' and this specialist did an X-ray and told me I was in the early stages of dementia. And I said to my wife 'Well, I'm not bothered.' Apart from the crosswords, it wasn't affecting me. I can still sing, I can still travel, and do my shows. The only thing is I forget names, it's weird."

Since opening up about his diagnosis, Tony has been inundated with support from fans and has decided to record a version of classic track 'Thank You for Being a Friend' - which will be released on July 2 - for charity Music for Dementia and teased that he will be joined by some "world-famous stars" on the fundraising venture.

He added: "The strange thing is, since I came out and said it, I've been stopped in the shops and on the streets to say 'Thank you', I met a woman whose husband has it and now he's not ashamed of it. "That's great, it means a hell of a lot. The specialist that saw me said I was very lucky because I'm in the music business, listening to music singing music and that is one of the things that good for dementia. This dementia thing we're doing, I can't mention the name but we've got some world-famous stars who are going to make the record for me. It's all for carers, they're doing a fantastic job.