His fans are legion. They are also generous. They shower him with teddy bears, chocolates, flowers, and hearts. They pounce upon hankies to have touched his perspiring brow and any flowers thrown back in return.
They know he is bi-sexual, has been bankrupt, had a nervous breakdown, been to court on charges of affray, and fought back from serious illness time and again.
They know too that sex and drugs were part of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. All of which is likely to make his brand new autobiography, launched in Blackpool, as he received yet another showbiz plaudit, a best seller within days of publication, next Thursday.
There have been books on Longthorne, but none by Longthorne, which this one, Joe Longthorne – The Official Autobiography (Great Northern Books, £16.99), ostensibly is. It's actually written by journalist and friend Chris Berry, publication to coincide with Joe's 150-date world tour, which commences with 35 dates in 60 days across the length and breadth of Britain. And, oh yes, several of them are in Blackpool.
Last week Joe received the coveted Silver Heart Award, the highest accolade from the Variety Club, at a special ceremony here, the town which has come to mean so much to him. He also auctioned off the very first copy of his book.
As part of his tour, Joe will be performing at the Paradise Rooms a week on Sunday. He's also officially launching the book on its publication date, here, too, at Blackpool's branch of Waterstones from 1pm next Thursday. And he returns to North Pier for selected dates in the season. Paul Fairclough, northern operations executive for Cuerden Leisure, the umbrella group for Six Piers, points out: "He's a phenomenon you have to see to appreciate. And his audiences are amazing."
Longthorne, 55 in May, admits he loves Blackpool "with a passion." It's been loyal to him, and he returns the compliment manifold. He remains one of the UK's leading live entertainers, a man still capable of playing to packed houses, but his loyalty to Blackpool, where so much of his success story began, and where his fight back to full health started, too, is unswerving. "Blackpool's my adopted home," he admits.
TV hasn't been quite as kind to him. He commanded national network audiences of 12 million, back in the days when producers weren't so keen to inflict reality telly dross upon us. He also appeared on the Royal Variety Show and sold out the Palladium, Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House and Drury Lane Chicago.
But this man of so many voices, who can morph from Bassey to Manilow, Garland to Doddie, without even missing a beat, somehow managed to lose himself along the way.
His albums may have gone Gold and Platinum, but it all had the Midas touch, in reverse, on his private life, and, ultimately, the fortune he should have been making.
Behind the scenes, tragedy and trauma were never far away. Three weeks prior to starting his first TV series Joe found he had cancer. Since then he's waged a constant battle against the disease and raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity.
Ricky (Royle Family) Tomlinson, who hails Joe Britain's "greatest entertainer," drew inspiration from his courage, when he faced his own four-way heart bypass. "I said to myself that compared with what Joe has been through my operation was only like having a tooth out."
Blackpool priest Geoff Bottoms, of St Monica's, Marton, calls Joe "almost divinely inspirational." He's read the last rites to him – and had the riot act read back in return by the ultimate comeback king.
"I've had the last rites read three times," says Joe. "Strangely enough, it just convinced me I wasn't dying."
A bone marrow transplant five years ago ended the cycles of chronic lymphocytic lymphoma but double pneumonia nearly finished him off. Joe is convinced Jesus stepped in. "I felt his presence, heard a voice say not just yet. My life has been different ever since."
He also pays tribute to the "magnificent, sexy and beautiful" Blackpool hotelier Pat Mancini, among others, for pulling him through when spirits, health and finance were at rock bottom.
Pat became best friend to Joe and his partner-manager James. Blackpool marked that milestone, too, Joe and James met at a party here.
"We just clicked," he says. "No-one else, apart from my mam, has cared for me quite as tenderly as James. He's also very shrewd. I've never had that kind of management in my life until he walked in."
Not that he always heeds advice, as he's the first to admit. Pat and James cautioned him against relaunching the Music Hall Tavern under his name in 2001.
It closed a year later, in spite of coming second in Blackpool's Tourism Awards. "We had some good nights whilst it lasted but unfortunately it didn't last long," Joe concludes. "Sometimes you just have to do something for the fun of it."
* Joe Longthorne: The Official Autobiography is published by Great Northern Books, April 1, £16.99.