Suggs undergoes double knee replacement surgery
Madness frontman Suggs has undergone double knee replacement surgery after wearing out the cartilage by "jumping up and down" on stage for the last 50 years.
Madness frontman Suggs has undergone double knee replacement surgery.
The 65-year-old singer - real name Graham McPherson - has revealed he needed the operation because he had worn out the cartilage by "jumping up and down" on stage for the last 50 years and he was convinced to go under the knife by his daughter, who introduced him to a surgeon who works with players at top London soccer club Arsenal.
Suggs told The Telegraph newspaper: "He said, ‘I remember you – I’ve seen videos of Madness. You’ve been jumping up and down for two hours every night for 50 years' ...
"The cartilage just wears out, and cartilage doesn’t repair, unlike muscles. It comes to a certain point where it needs to be replaced. So I took the plunge, and it was extremely painful. But they’re 10 times better."
When told he now has "Arsenal knees", Suggs - who is a fan of rival club Chelsea FC - joked: "You b*****d, that’s right! Well, I’m very pleased I did it."
Suggs went on to explain the surgery was hugely helpful as it allowed the band to play a full summer of gigs, which he would have struggled with if he was still suffering problems with his knees.
He said: "I wouldn’t have been able to do those gigs. The muscle memory of how I used to move is there. But coming back to complete mobility took a little time."
It comes after Suggs previously revealed he'd given up alcohol following a stark warning about his drinking and he had to face his first Madness tour sober.
In an interview on the Headliners show on BBC Radio 5 Live, Suggs explained: "I’ve been a bit sort of jocular about it, but no, it did get a bit serious.
"I mean, it was alcoholism, and there’s no way in this horrible thing to admit to yourself, because I was a drunk. I was a good drinker, I was a bad drinker. "When you’re drinking too much, it just becomes your sole raison d’etre. I’m just [not] interested, basically, in anything other than myself and sitting there getting drunk.
"And then my family started to suggest I was getting a bit [too much] … I went to see an addiction therapist, and he just said: 'You’ve got to stop,’ basically. "It’s just that thin line between drinking socially and drinking unsocially and, you know, kind of ruining your life, which is where I’m sort of headed."
He added of being on stage without booze: "This will be the first tour [sober] so that’s kind of intriguing. Most of the [Madness] boys know and in fact, a couple of the others packed up a little while ago."
Suggs concluded: "I think at [my age] and so many of my friends, without naming names, about my age in this industry, I mean, I could tell you loads, all packed up around being 60. I’m lucky to tell the tale, really."
