SINCE joining Scottish pop band Bay City Rollers 40 years ago, Les McKeown has experienced wondrous highs and devastating lows.

But the 58-year-old says he is more than happy with the way his life has turned out, even more so because he is back on the road playing the band’s hits as part of a UK tour.

Along with current members Si Mulvey, Alex Toff, Michael Koch and Alex Southgate, they will entertain fans at the Albert Halls, Bolton, on Friday, October 3.

In 2009, he received treatment for alcohol addiction at rehabilitation clinic Passages Malibu, which was filmed for a television programme.

Speaking candidly after therapy sessions, he revealed he had been date raped as a young man and confessed to having lived a secret gay life to wife Peko and their son.

Putting the past behind him, he said: “I’m more than happy.

“I’m over the moon that I have been able to recover and get my life back together and I have forgiven everyone and people have forgiven me.

“I’m happy that I am living a nice, healthy lifestyle. I’m happy and healthy.”

It was the 1970s when the band — hailed the "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" — was at its peak with hits including Remember, Shang-A-Lang, Bye, Bye, Baby, Summerlove Sensation and All Of Me Loves All Of You.

Between 1975 and 1978, they toured all over the world and played to sold out crowds in the USA, Great Britain, Europe, New Zealand, Australia and Japan — a country where their popularity led to them releasing their 1983 double LP, Live in Japan.

Asked why he thinks they were so popular there, Les said: “I suppose we were cute and cuddly with a bit of tartan thrown in around the edges.”

The band then disappeared from the public eye before reuniting a number of times, including for a huge Millennium concert festival on New Year's Eve in 1999.

The latest incarnation kicked off a 49-date tour on the Isle of Wight earlier this month.

Les said: “It’s started really well.

“I’m very happy that a lot of people have responded so positively to sharing the celebration of the Bay City Rollers.

“I would say if they enjoyed it before, they will enjoy it again.

“We play all the hits.

“We play as close to the record as we can.

“There’s a nice craic between me and the audience, sometimes, but I think, most of the time, they enjoy the quality of the show and the sound and the chance to relax and forget about everything for one night.

“Every year, we do a little unplugged section of the show, get some acoustic guitars and play about six or seven songs.

“The guys have been with me for between four and 18 years, much longer than the original guys.
“They don’t play anymore, well Eric (Faulkner) does.

“He still gets out and plays acoustic festivals and stuff like that.”

It was as a young child that Les discovered he had a passion and talent for singing, going on to fulfil his ambition of becoming a singer on Top of the Pops.

He said: “It stemmed from my mother. I was the youngest of four boys, I got the most time with her.
“She was a great singer, she was always singing and I picked it up off her.

“I just thought it was a natural part of growing up.

“I went to school and realised that not everybody sang.

“That made me feel a bit special that I could, I used to sing all the time.”

Bay City Rollers will be at the Albert Halls, Bolton, on Friday, October 3. Phone 01204 334400 for tickets.