Peter Frampton discusses his illness and the likelihood of a post-COVID-19 tour
His inclusion body myositis may have progressed too far by the time tours are rescheduled, he has said.
Image: Jeff Hahne
In 2019, Peter Frampton revealed his inclusion body myositis (IBM) diagnosis. He’s now spoken about the impact the autoimmune disease is having on the chances of him being able to complete his last tour, which was scheduled for 2020 and delayed due to the pandemic.
When asked by Grammy.com about his plans for post-COVID-19 touring, Frampton said: “This is where I have to give you the realistic chat. … I have to be realistic because we all have one clock. Well, we’ve got two clocks right now, worldwide, that we live with. One is our life-clock and one is the COVID-19 clock. The COVID-19 clock is stopping everybody from being around each other, for good reason, right now, obviously. And the more we stay away from each other, unfortunately, at this time, the better it is.
“But I have a third clock, which is my IBM clock. Slowly but surely, unfortunately, I’m losing strength in my hands, my arms and my legs. It’s specific muscles it hits. It picks and chooses the muscles and there’s no rhyme or reason for it. They don’t know; there’s no cure. If it takes another year before we can reschedule any dates, I will have to be realistic to see if my hands work or my legs will keep me up.”
He added: “I think there’s a certain level of playing where I won’t perform anymore. If I can’t play certain things the way I want to – I don’t want to be that person to go out there and people feel bad for me because I don’t play as good but I am Peter Frampton. That’s not going to happen. If I go out having played my last show [near] San Francisco on October 12, 2019, if that’s my last show, then so be it. But obviously, I am hoping more than anybody else that within a year – or if it is a year; I’m imagining it’s going to be at least a year – if things aren’t doing good, then that will be it for me, unfortunately.”
Frampton’s last show was at the Concord Pavilion, near San Francisco, on 12 October 2019. He plotted the UK leg of the tour for summer 2020, but like many other live music events, this was postponed by the pandemic.
For more music news, click here.