Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers is sharing details on the health challenges he has faced and which almost destroyed his musical career.
In an interview with "CBS Mornings" aired Wednesday, the legendary singer opened up about suffering two major and 11 minor strokes over the last few years.
"I couldn't do anything to be honest … I couldn't speak," Rodgers said. "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?'"
Rodgers' wife, Cynthia Kereluk Rodgers, also appeared on "CBS Mornings," saying her husband suffered his first stroke in 2016.
Three years later, in October 2019, after he had a second stroke that sent him into major surgery, she admitted it was a frightening experience but did not want to dwell on her emotions as it might have taken time away from her husband's healing process.
"I was just praying. All I wanted to do was just walk and talk with him again," she said. "That's all I asked for."
As reported on "CBS Mornings," Rodgers' surgeon recommended an endarterectomy, a procedure to clear a blocked artery of plaque. Rodgers recounted that he was informed there was a risk he might not survive the surgery because it required an incision near his vocal cords in the neck.
During the surgery, doctors played music by Bad Company.
"And when I woke up, I opened my eyes, I thought 'Oh, I'm still here,'" he said.
It took six months before Rodgers could play guitar again, but he said that each thing he did felt like an "achievement."
Rodgers later returned to the studio in Vancouver, where he began work on a new solo album, his first in decades, called "Midnight Rose." It was released earlier this month through Sun Records.
Rodgers' wife said she thought music would be his way back, and he agreed.
"It was, actually," he said. "It definitely was."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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