SINGAPORE – Welsh singing icon Tom Jones, 83, is very much aware of what fans are saying about him online.

“You’ve to listen to the people,” he tells The Straits Times in a Zoom interview ahead of his concert at The Theatre at Mediacorp on March 10.

“I always read reviews of my shows, especially from the fans themselves, the people who have been to the shows, how did they enjoy it? And so social media, in that respect, is very good because you get feedback much more easily now than when I started.”

In a music career that has spanned over six decades, the singer has been prolific and constantly puts out new music.

In 2021, he released his latest and 41st album, Surrounded By Time, that featured renditions of songs by other artistes such as American troubadour Bob Dylan (One More Cup Of Coffee) and American jazz singer Bobby Cole (I’m Growing Old).

At the upcoming Singapore show, there will be some songs from the album. But a Tom Jones show will always have his signature hits from past decades – What’s New Pussycat? (1965), Green, Green Grass Of Home (1966), Delilah (1967) and Sex Bomb (2000).

“When people go to shows, if you don’t do songs that they’re familiar with, I don’t think that’s right. I like to mix it up, I like to put some new things in there that maybe they haven’t heard me do before. But those are the big hits that I’ve had. I may change the arrangements a bit, but I keep those songs in there because they’re very important and I think people deserve to hear them.”

Famous for his booming voice and sex symbol status, Jones is still going strong. The Singapore show is part of a global tour that includes countries such as Australia, Argentina and United Arab Emirates.

“You know people say, ‘Well, where do you go to re...