Jimmy Barnes reveals split-second decision saved him from being killed in the 2015 Bangkok bombing

Jimmy Barnes has revealed that a split-second decision he made might be the reason he, his wife Jane, and his grandson Dylan are alive today. 

The 64-year-old rocker said in his Story Time podcast this week that he walked away from the Erawan Shrine in Thailand moments before was rocked by an explosion in the 2015 Bangkok bombing. 

Jimmy was in the country to perform show and passing the tourist attraction with his wife by his side and little Dylan, then just one, a stroller.   

He said: ‘We had to take him [Dylan] the long way around – Jane loves my short cuts, she calls them the scenic route. 

‘Jane would always take me to that shrine to make wishes and give thanks.

‘We would have been at the gate where the bomb went off if we hadn’t thought this is too hard to do with the baby, let’s go this way.’ 

Moments later the bomb went off – with the trio lucky to be out of it’s path.  

‘We were literally between buildings, so we were sheltered from the spray and you could feel the whole building shake. We were incredibly lucky,’ he said. 

The bombing killed 20 people and injured 125. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Jane, 62, and Jimmy have been married 39 years – the Cold Chisel frontman met Thai-born Jane Mahoney in Canberra in 1979.      

Jimmy and Jane married in 1981, and had four children – son, Jackie, and daughters, Mahalia, Eliza-Jane and Elly-May. 

Dylan, now six, is the son of Jimmy’s daughter Elly-May.  

The family lived in France for much of the 1990s, before returning to Australia and taking up residence in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.