Stephen Pearcy, lead singer of Ratt, has recently revealed that he has been diagnosed with liver cancer and has been battling it for three years. Pearcy, 66, says that he is going public with this news in order to help others get checked and treated.
In an interview with Laughing Monkey Music, Pearcy says, “I’m on a ritual and monitoring things. I don’t know what I’m still doing here but, look, I’m appreciating every day and every minute above ground here because all of our peers are seemingly disappearing it’s all a drag.”
He went on, “[The cancer is] under control and I never wanted to bring it up until I really started feeling guilty about it, like how I found out is just through a blood test I had hepatitis. Then getting a check-up and another check-up is how I found out. [They told me,] ‘By the way, you’ve got a bit of cancer in there.”
“Then your whole world changes,” admits Pearcy. “So I didn’t feel like it needed to be out there until I started feeling guilty like, yeah, man, I can help some people. [I can tell people,] ‘Get blood tests. Take care of yourself.’”
Pearcy also admitted to having surgery to remove the cancer. “I went on the road nine days after surgery,” says Pearcy, “not even knowing the outcome of my surgery removing the cancer. So that was pretty interesting.”
The House of Hair sends best wishes to Stephen for a full recovery! We LOVE Ratt! Hey Stephen – now’s your chance to get all the guys back together!!