There was a time when a betting man's thinking was that Jimmy Barnes might not go the distance.
The wild man of Australian rock forged his reputation fuelled by alcohol and drugs, his legendary live shows were a testament to the fact that some people can continue to push the limits of human endurance and keep bouncing back as though no damage has been done.
But there was always the fear among his followers that something, at some time, had to give - and it did. The irony is that it happened years after Barnes had packed in the partying - and it had nothing to do with his former lifestyle at all.
'I started last year feeling pretty run down,' explains the former Cold Chisel frontman. 'I wasn't recovering from my shows very quickly so I thought I'd get fit. I started running and my lungs started hurting. I went in for tests and they said my lungs were fine but I knew something was wrong. That's when they tested my heart and found the problem.'
The 51-year-old was told he had been born with a defective aortic valve and needed immediate open-heart surgery to correct the problem.
'It was there just ticking away,' he says. 'You'd think it was from that lifestyle I led. But it had nothing to do with that. It was something I was born with. I mean, all the alcohol and drugs and the parties - I'd done those. I'd been sober since 2002. That lifestyle had finished. I had done it all and there was nothing in it for me any more.'
Although Barnes suffered some problems after his surgery (he was back under the knife twice to have fluid drained from his chest) he says he is fit, fresh and raring to go.
