Tony Hadley would be celebrating his 40th anniversary in music with Spandau Ballet if they were still a band.

Despite pleas from ex-bandmate Gary Kemp to re-join the iconic New Romantic group - which was completed by Martin Kemp, Steve Norman, and John Keeble - the 61-year-old musician, who quit as lead singer in July 2017, wants nothing more to do with the band.

However, as he looks he prepares for his upcoming tour celebrating four decades in the music business, Tony admitted it's a "shame" he can't mark the milestone with his old band.

Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper's Wired column, Tony said: "It is a shame because I am celebrating my personal 40th anniversary in the music industry but if Spandau had been together we would be doing it as a band. But that's life.

"You get to a point in life where you don't need the angst, I just go out there and have fun.

"It would be nice if somebody asked them, 'Why did Tone really leave?' It's for them to say, they started it, that's how I look at it."

Martin previously insisted Spandau is over until Tony returns.

He said in 2019: "Until Tony comes back ... until the five of us come back. It's not just Tony, all five of us. Listen, my band is so volatile, one minute we are the best friends then we fall out, it has always been that way.

"I would love it to happen because it is part of me it is part of my soul. But it means all five of us saying yes at the same time."

The 'Gold' hitmaker - who was briefly replaced by Ross William Wild as lead vocalist in 2018 - kicks off his extensive run on March 1 in Bexhill, East Sussex, and as well as playing Spandau's greatest hits, fans can expect some oldies, too.

Tony added: "I'll play all the hits but I might go to other places, like when I was 16, and the first song I sang at Pontins holiday camp.

"The songs that I sang at a rehearsal studio before Spandau became Spandau, maybe some classic R&B songs as well."