Classic Rock
Paul Rodgers talks about his health over the years
The legendary Free, Bad Company and The Firm vocalist Paul Rodgers, who also spent some time with Queen talked in an interview with CBS News about his health over the years. The musician revealed that a sequence of 13 strokes almost left him without a voice.
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He suffered 11 minor strokes and two major strokes in 2016 and another one in October 2019, leaving him unable to talk.
Paul Rodgers talks about his health over the years
“I couldn’t do anything, to be honest. I couldn’t speak. That was the very strange thing. You know, I’d prepare something in my mind and I’d say it, but that isn’t what came out and I’d go, ‘What the heck did I just say?'”
He said that he underwent an endarterectomy, which is a procedure to remove plaque clogging a carotid artery. That kind of procedure can damage the vocal chords.
“They cut the neck, and [the doctor] said that he was very careful because he knew I was a singer and that when you cut the neck, it’s very close to the vocal cords. They told me, they were very clear, ‘You may not come out of this alive.'”
After six months he returned to play the guitar and sing: “Each thing was a step forward. Each thing that I did was an achievement … ‘Oh, I can do this. I can sing,'” Paul Rodgers said.
The musician recently released his new album “Midnight Rose”, the first solo record in more than 25 years.
“Midnight Rose” track list
- “Coming Home”
- “Photo Shooter”
- “Midnight Rose”
- “Living It Up”
- “Dance in the Sun”
- “Take Love”
- “Highway Robber”
- “Melting”
Paul Rodgers was born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England back in 1949 and started his career in 1968. He first achieved fame as a member of Free in the early 70s and from the mid-70s until the 80s with Bad Company.
During the 80s he also was part of the supergroup The Firm, formed alongside the Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. They released two studio albums “The Firm” (1985) and “Mean Business” (1986). In 2008 he recorded the album “Cosmo Rocks” with Queen, that was formed by Brian May and Roger Taylor at the time.
