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And we just missed out on another.

Justin Hawkins, rambunctious frontman of multi-platinum hit-makers The Darkness, has revealed he was going to relocate Down Under, after the UK band blew up the music scene with anthems like I Believe In A Thing Called Love then promptly imploded – temporarily – in traditional rock’n’roll style, two decades ago.

The surprising admission comes during a Zoom call as Hawkins gratefully ponders The Darkness’ late-career surge in popularity here – they had to add extra shows on their last visit, in 2023, and have just done so again for their next tour, in a few months – while at the same time reaching new heights on home turf.

“Australia is going really well and nobody can really explain that. We come as often as we come and stuff’s getting bigger,” he says in a wide-ranging discussion that takes in their new album Dreams On Toast, the late Ozzy Osbourne (“lovely”), Brexit (“stupidity”), Gen X Zoom mishaps (Hawkins’ unintentional filter imbues him with psychedelic green lips and a terrifyingly enormous green-grass background while his interviewer, of similar vintage, has trouble ending the call until a mortified Gen Z son steps in) and more.

Harking back to The Darkness’ “f**king amazing” fun-filled early visits – especially showcasing quadruple-platinum first album Permission To Land on the 2004 Big Day Out tour, before Hawkins confronted his substance battles and quit the band – he continues: “It was like, ‘Oh yeah, awesome, this is our place’. And I was even thinking about moving to Australia, particularly when I first got sober and didn’t have much to do.

“I had people at the (record) label trying to help me figure out visas and stuff like that. It never happened in the end, but it was close.”

Fortunately Australia’s loss is the rock world’s win, because in 2011 Hawkins reunited with his bandmates: guitarist brother Dan, bassist Frankie Poullain and drummer Ed Graham (since 2015, the drum stool has been filled by Rufus Tiger Taylor, son of Queen legend Roger Taylor).

As a band that thrives on high-energy live shows, Hawkins says, there was a frustrating period post-reunion while they struggled to find a satisfactory promoter partnership in Australia “that would allow us to do it properly”.

“It was all a bit rocky and we didn’t know what our relationship with Australia was like,” he reflects.

“And then just in the last four or five tours, it’s been really growing quickly, having to add shows in places like Melbourne, everything selling out and it’s been awesome, you know, it has been so fun. And also, obviously, Australian crowds are amazing. They love rock and it’s always a joy for a band like us to play in a country like Australia … I think it is actually a natural fit.”

That’s good, because The Darkness are heading back here for ten shows in February next year. They have already sold out one show and last week added an extra night in Sydney. And it’s not just Australia where The Darkness is shining bright.

Dreams On Toast peaked at No2 in the UK chart, the band’s highest position since Permission To Land hit No1 in 2003. The band even rocked a royal audience this year at a London concert marking 80 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe.

“It’s really strange,” Hawkins muses, with cautious modesty. “We are kind of becoming, like, a household name thing in the UK … we’ve been resurgent lately.”

Their signature blend of hooky, crunching guitar hard rock and humour remains to the fore on Dreams On Toast, though it is far from one-dimensional, with bold musical diversions (anyone for honky-tonk piano?) and lyrics that tend towards amusing, often relatable, insight rather than slapstick. And when younger sibling Dan takes lead vocals on B-side/bonus track Au Revoir, My Friend – a loving farewell to a canine companion – it provokes sniffles, not giggles.

Hawkins senior maintains a similar dynamic in conversation, bouncing from quick repartee to considered opinion, as would be familiar to viewers of his YouTube vodcast Justin Hawkins Rides Again. A calmer presence than that leaping, bounding bona fide rock star still hitting those shouldn’t-be-hittable notes on stage, but there’s no doubt it’s the same bloke.

A discussion about the recent passing of metal godfather Osbourne, and its impact around the world, turns into a heartfelt tribute to the man, his family and the “incredibly elegant” timing of the ailing Ozzy’s star-studded final show, just weeks before he died.

“I’ve met all of them on several occasions, and I’ve always found them to be lovely. And it’s heartbreaking,” Hawkins says, noting that behind the publicly curated hilarity the Black Sabbath legend was “humble” and “kind of vulnerable”. He adds: “And that’s charming in its own way.”

As a well-established celebrity himself, Hawkins – a divorced father-of-one currently in a relationship with singer Desiree Mishoe – must occasionally navigate British tabloid attention in the form of paparazzi photos and clickbait headlines.

“Funny, because when they pap me they always go, ‘Who’s this unrecognisable rock star?’” he says, laughing it off. “Well if you don’t recognise me, tell your f**king photographer to go and take a picture of someone else! F**k off!”

The health-conscious 50-year-old is perhaps more shielded from media intrusion than some showbiz peers, having lived for the past 12 years in Switzerland with his ex-wife, who is Swiss, and their daughter.

He acknowledges he is “sometimes really tempted” to go back to the UK as it would be convenient workwise, but adds “I just can’t see myself doing it at the moment”. A key factor is of course his role as a parent; one also gets the impression Hawkins is far from thrilled by the current state of politics and public debate where “reputable news” can be a scarce commodity and truth itself “really, more than ever, sort of depends who you ask”.

Bemoaning the quality of leadership – “the best people we have don’t go into politics” – Hawkins says Britain’s controversial exit from the European Union “really, really pissed me off, and I don’t think that’s to do with anything other than sort of short-sightedness, jingoism, xenophobia, perhaps even a little bit of racism. But definitely stupidity”.

Well listen, Justin Hawkins. If Switzerland ever gets too dull for you, and you still don’t fancy the UK, how about you reconsider that move to the lucky land instead? Our politics may not be perfect, but in the main we’re pretty welcoming, we share your enthusiasm for sport and we still believe in a thing called love.

The Darkness will be touring in Australia in February and March 2026, playing Brisbane, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Wollongong, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, Fremantle, Frankston, and Melbourne. Tickets on sale now.