Tom Jones Back on Stage at 86 After Flu Turned Into Pneumonia

Tom Jones returned to the stage on Nov. 4 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, a rescheduled show on his Come Gather Round tour. The 86-year-old singer had been hospitalised with what he first thought was a bad case of flu.

The Greek Theatre date was originally set for Oct. 26. It was postponed after Jones fell ill. He also had to move shows in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Jones spent a week at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. He told Billboard that he thought his life was ending. Speaking to the Los Angeles crowd, he said: "Oh, well, this is it," and then, "You've had a wonderful life, Tommy, but it's over right now."

The flu, he said, developed into pneumonia, a lung infection that can make breathing very hard. He spent two days in intensive care, the unit where the sickest patients are monitored around the clock. AOL reported his account that the pneumonia left him unable to breathe before he got back on stage.

Jones praised the hospital staff. He told the Los Angeles audience that the UCLA team had done a wonderful job, and that he had told them he needed to get back on stage because that is where he belongs.

His next scheduled show is a rescheduled date at Yaamava' Theater in Highland, California, on Nov. 6. Shows of this kind are often moved in blocks like this one, so fans with tickets for the postponed Los Angeles and San Diego dates will need to check with the venues or promoters for the new arrangements.

For a singer who has been performing for more than six decades, the sight of him walking back onstage after a near-miss is the kind of moment that stays with the crowd. Jones did not dwell on the hospital in the Los Angeles show. He spoke about it plainly and then moved on to the music.