logo

“I have these coughing fits because my lungs are still damaged at the tips”: Tool’s Maynard James Keenan after beating COVID-19

The vocalist reports having to deal with lung damage since his recovery.

Maynard James Keenan at the Grammy Museum

Photo: Rebecca Sapp / WireImage

When you purchase through affiliate links on Guitar.com, you may contribute to our site through commissions. Learn more.

Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan has opened up on contracting and beating COVID-19, saying that he’s still “dealing with the residual side effects” from the disease, which includes lung damage.

Keenan revealed that he caught the coronavirus at the end of February – a month before the WHO declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic. Speaking with azcentral, Keenan explained that he made the decision to keep his condition under wraps at the time.

“I kind of didn’t want to run around screaming it,” Keenan said. “But it’s real. And there’s after-effects. I had to go through some major medications to undo the residual effects.”

When asked if he’s feeling better now, the vocalist responded that he still experiences frequent bouts of coughing even after beating the disease.

“Every other day, I have these coughing fits because my lungs are still damaged at the tips,” he explained. “And I just got over the inflammation that was going on with my wrist and hands. I had an autoimmune attack on my system in the form of, like, a rheumatoid arthritis.”

“Basically, from what I understand, it attacks weird spots and it’s random. So that’s what I got. That was my prize.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Keenan spoke about his upcoming album with Puscifer, Existential Reckoning, and his thoughts on staying off the road due to the coronavirus.

“I would love to go out on tour. But I wouldn’t want to put my family through that if something awful happened to friends or family because of it,” he said.

Keenan left some parting words of advice for fans toward the end of the interview, saying, “Just look out for your neighbour. That’s all. Just be safe. Don’t be dumb.”

For more music news, click here.

Related Artists

Related Tags

logo

The world’s leading authority and resource for all things guitar.

© 2024 Guitar.com is part of NME Networks.