Skunk Anansie’s drummer Mark Richardson has revealed that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, just months after his bandmate Cass Lewis disclosed his own cancer diagnosis.
The British musician, 54, is a longtime member of the groundbreaking rock band, having joined a year after they first formed in 1995.
In a post to Instagram on Thursday 10 April, Richardson disclosed his diagnosis, which he said he received in February, as he urged men to get themselves checked.
“I had a positive diagnosis on 22 February and I’m waiting for a date for a radical prostatectomy,” he explained.
According to Cancer Research UK, a radical prostatectomy is a major operation to remove the prostate gland.
“The reason I’m telling you this is because it’s the biggest cancer in men in the UK, there are about 150 new cases in the UK every day,” Richardson continued.
“It’s so easy to catch it early if you go for a check-up at your doctor’s, or you can get PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) ‘pee sticks’ online. It’s very easy to get an early diagnosis, and that’s what’s gonna save your life.”
Richardson said he had gone to the doctors for his annual hearing test to check for issues such as tinnitus, a common issue for drummers due to prolonged exposure to loud noises.
While there, his doctor realised they hadn’t done a recent blood test. When they carried one out, the blood tests came back with a high PSA rate: “When that’s high that means there’s an issue.”
“If you have a test regularly, you’re gonna catch that higher number as soon as it increases, which means it increases your chances of surviving this thing.
“It’s probably the most treatable and survivable of the cancers, if you want to talk about it in those terms, but only if you catch it early, so that’s my message.
“Please get checked out, get regularly checked out… pee sticks, blood tests, whatever, but get checked out. The way you survive this thing is by early diagnosis.”
Richardson said he would keep his followers updated about his progress.
Skunk Anansie are currently on tour in support of their forthcoming album, The Painful Truth.
The album’s title was inspired in part by their long-time bass player Cass, who was diagnosed with stage four cancer while they were recording their new music.
"During the process of recording I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and so I was having chemo while we were making the album,” Cass said at an album playback in February.
“I thought my f***ing cards had been marked, actually, and so I was just, I was happy with having had a good life, and I was quite content, you know, I accepted whatever my fate was.
“I wouldn't think about the work, the record, I would think about my life. I'd had some very intensive chemo sessions, and no one knew [anything]. I just thought, I'm on this long road of chemo. And that took a year.”
He has since been given the all-clear, he told the audience: “As soon as I knew that I wasn't going anywhere, I was ‘Just get back on the record’. There's nothing better to work for!”
Lead singer Skin then explained that the album’s title was Cass’s idea, inspired by his personal experiences as well as the band’s ups and downs through the years.
“That's what all the songs are about, that connects everything, that connects what we've been through over the last few years,” she said. “It’s the connection with these guys. I love them to bits, you know, they're my brothers.
“What we're going through, and everything, it's quite emotional, it's the painful truth. It's what you're here for, and what's important in your life, and what you're going to do about it. That's the painful truth!”
Skunk Anansie will headline The Independent’s stage at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton next month, while Skin will also star in an exclusive keynote talk.
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