Sir Tom Jones doesn't worry about getting old.

The 'Sex Bomb' hitmaker insists he isn't worried about being in his 80s and insists he will never retire

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: ''I like ­birthdays. People say, 'What is it like growing old?' but I say, 'What is the alternative?' I don't mind growing old as the memories are tremendous. I don't want to stop as God has been good to me and my voice is still there. I want to do it as long as there is a breath in my body.

Meanwhile, the 80-year-old singer previously insisted he has no plans to retire and won't be stepping back from the spotlight.

He said: ''People know I've done 'Sex Bomb', or 'Delilah' or whatever. Not that I won't do it again, there might be another 'Sex Bomb 'out there, you never know, I'm not ruling it out. I want to keep on singing for many years yet. I know my time is getting shorter because of my age, but how short it is I don't know. God has been very kind to me.''

Tom's fans are famous for throwing their underwear at him while he's on stage and he admitted that phenomenon came about by accident.

He explained: ''I never used to pick them up. It started in New York, in a club. I didn't mind being a sex bomb. My shirt became part of the thing. I wore a tuxedo to start with then I started to take it off, as it was too hot to wear and I thought, 'Wow, this works'. It wasn't intentional at the beginning. It just came about because I was hot on stage.''