Former teen idol Shaun Cassidy is preparing for his first major tour in 45 years, relearning his old songs and guitar skills for the occasion. The 66-year-old actor, son of Oscar-winning actress Shirley Jones and late actor Jack Cassidy, rose to fame in the 1970s as a pop star and actor, starring as Joe Hardy in ‘The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.’ After a long hiatus from the spotlight to focus on TV writing and producing, Cassidy is making a triumphant return to the stage.
During an interview with People magazine, Cassidy revealed that he had to take guitar lessons again and relearn his own hits as he prepares for the tour. ‘I literally had to take guitar lessons. I hadn’t played guitar in so long,’ he said. ‘I had to relearn songs I had written. I didn’t know how to play them.’ Cassidy is also taking on the challenge of playing bass instead of guitar for his upcoming tour.
Cassidy’s 50-city ‘The Road to Us Tour’ will kick off Sept. 13 at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. The singer shared that the tour will span his full career, featuring classic hits, new music, and personal stories. The setlist will include his cover of ‘Da Doo Ron Ron,’ originally a 1963 song by the girl group The Crystals. This song became Cassidy’s first major hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earning him a Grammy Award nomination for best new artist.
Despite being raised in a show business family, Cassidy admitted that he was never really comfortable in the limelight during his time as a teen heartthrob. ‘I’ve never enjoyed being a public figure. I don’t like all the attention. I’m basically an introvert. I don’t really like being famous,’ he told People. ‘But the only thing more ridiculous than being famous is being formerly famous, because you’re still famous, but a lot of people don’t necessarily know why anymore. And if it were up to me, I’d prefer neither of those things.’
By the mid-1990s, Cassidy had shifted almost completely to behind the scenes in Hollywood. For the past few decades, he has worked as a television writer and producer, launching shows including ‘American Gothic,’ ‘Roar,’ and ‘New Amsterdam.’ While speaking with People, Cassidy acknowledged that the trajectory of his career was unusual. ‘It’s a weird résumé,’ he said. ‘I don’t know anybody else that plays the Houston Astrodome for 55,000 people, says, ‘Goodnight and see you soon,’ and then doesn’t show up again for 40 years, but that’s kind of what I did.’
‘I think I’m the luckiest person in the world that I can do that,’ Cassidy added. ‘But I discovered, and the audience told me this, that I didn’t need to do that because I had actually all these other cards I could play. Now I’m a storyteller.’