Australian music legend Marcia Hines set to return to WA in August for 50th anniversary Still Shining Tour

“I came for six months”. That was Marcia Hines’ original plans when she packed up her bags and relocated from her native Boston to Sydney as a 16-year-old. More than five decades on, the Australian Idol judge is still in the country and has no plans to leave. Hines is celebrating her long and illustrious career with her Still Shining 50th Anniversary Tour, and the Bunbury show is set to be the second stop of her 34 city circuit across the country. She expressed her love for the State and the people she knows out west. “I have friends over there and it is a great place,” Hines said. With a career spanning more than five decades, she has had a lot of experiences. One which stands out was the first time she won TV Week’s Queen of Pop award in 1976. “I remember how much of a fuss was made of me winning it and I was just stoked,” she said. “I had realised that I had fallen in love with Australia, but I didn’t realise Australia had fallen in love with me.” When asked whether she thought she would still be in Australia more than 50 years on, Hines admits it was not the plan. “The thing with this industry is you stay where the work is and I was very lucky,” she said. “My guardian as a kid was a guy called Harry M Miller and his people found me in America in Boston and then they brought me here. “I was blessed enough for him to ask me if I wanted to be Mary Magdalene (in Jesus Christ Superstar) and then one thing happened after another.” But it is not just work which has kept here. She raised her daughter Demi in Australia, and her mother eventually made the leap as well. “You stay where your friends are and this is when my friends are — I’ve grown up here basically,” she said. Asked what she hopes audiences get out of the show, Hines said she hopes it will be a night of memories. “It should be fun and I’ve got a great group of people who I work with and travel with.” Marcia will be performing at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre on August 9. Tickets are available at marciahines.com.