Bush singer, , 56, on the chaotic festival, daughter ’s engagement, being ’s and ’s buddy and a mammoth tour of the US as music still grabs him.
It’s 30 years since you first formed the rock band Bush. How’s the North American tour been with Alice In Chains and Breaking Benjamin?
I spend 23 hours going, ‘I can’t believe we’re doing this, this tour is too long.’ And then you do the show and it’s really good fun and you’re like, ‘This is great!’
The venues are really beautiful. There’s about 10,000 people seated and then there’s a lawn so that’s brilliant for my dog to run around.
But I’ve got loads of kids so leaving them in September was really selfish because they’ve got new school years and sports.
How old are your kids?
Well, Daisy [Lowe] is fully grown. She’s a lady, as she’d tell you herself. The three boys are 16, 14 and eight and really into their sports. I went back at the weekend for practice matches and to make dinners, then got the red-eye flight back, which is hell on earth.
Do your kids critique your music?
They do have massive opinions. Back in the day, when I first had the boys, they were asking if I’d written any songs about them and that terrified me. ‘No, of course I f***ing haven’t!’
Daisy has just got engaged [to estate agent Jordan Saul] I played some music to her fiancé, my future son-in-law, when they were with me in LA and he wrote to me that he loved the new tracks.
It must be intimidating for a fiancé meeting the rock star dad.
Yeah, it could have gone the other way. He’s a budding amateur fighter, so I think he just likes the strength. I don’t know what else he likes but he’s a really good person so I’m super-excited about him.
Talking of Bush’s musical history. What was it like being part of the disastrous Woodstock ’99 that Netflix has made into a documentary?
It was a bit hair-raising. I was in London at the height of Britpop, making a record, and then we popped over to do Woodstock.
We had been living in a bubble and hadn’t really heard about this nu-metal thing. , who we went on after, and had exploded.
They responded to the youth of America who were really disgruntled. I didn’t get the memo.
I was like, ‘ played Woodstock. We’re going to honour that. We’ve got to come together. We are all one.’ And everyone just wanted to kill each other there.
Do you think you’ve learned from your mistakes?
I think I’m a lot wiser and not quite as self-sabotaging. I was pretty good at that. That’s what comes with maturing a little bit. I mean, I’m still in a band so I’ve definitely still got one foot in being needy and immature and ridiculous.
You’ve talked on stage about the Queen. Did you meet her?
At one point in my life I had a stepfather who was a sportsman. We were at an event and I saw from across the room. It was like, ‘Oh f***, there’s the Queen!’
There was a frisson. She was just standing there holding her bag. She wasn’t doing anything but for all of us she was the backbone. It was a very emotional time recently.
Wasn’t your big sister, Lorraine, events manager at Westminster Abbey for the funeral?
Yes, my sister organised it! Thank you, you’re welcome. Her team are like the SAS. They’ve been ready waiting. She did it and it was really good.
As for music legends what is this cookery TV pilot you’ve filmed with Sir Tom Jones?
It’s taken me three years to make this. I was basically looking at ways to be home more for the boys.
I thought US talk show Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee was inspiring and interesting as was Dinner For Five. I’m not .
I’m an idiot musician. But what I can do is put meals together and they do look and taste good. I’ve got my page.
You’re going to hear things about Tom and his family and his life you never got to hear before. He’s such an incredible man. I love him.
Bush supported David Bowie in South America and you remained friends. Did the superstar used to email you?
Yes, he did through the years. I never figured that I was in [music’s] Premier Division but I was definitely in a space where we had intermittent good connections.
He was such an incredible person and really funny. He was just everything you want.
Your track Bullet Holes did well in John Wick 3. Any more plans to work with Keanu Reeves?
Weirdly, for the fight stuff that I did with in Constantine back in 2005 the stunt coordinator was Chad Stahelski who went on to direct all the John Wick movies.
So it was really fun to be back involved with him. Now I’ve heard that they’re doing Constantine 2 I hope that they want to bring my character Balthazar back from the dead. They just have to want to, don’t they?
Bush’s ninth album, , is out now .
