Morrissey: "I Almost Died"
Ex-Smiths frontman admits he collapsed as he celebrates 25 years as a solo artist and returns to the stage.
HAVING BEEN FORCED TO cancel a slew of US dates in March for medical reasons, Morrissey is set to resume touring next week, playing his first show at the 3000-capacity Jockey Club in Lima, Peru. His dates then extend throughout July as he plays Chile, Argentina and Brazil. As the footage shows, the singer arrived in the Peruvian capital earlier this week and was warmly greeted by a number of fans at the airport, one of whom was wearing an impressive homemade Smiths sweatshirt.
Speaking to Chilean newspaper La Tercera, Morrissey also admitted the gravity of the illness that dogged him earlier in the year.
"It was terrible," he stated. "I had played in January in Ohio, and I was perfect, but the next night at the hotel I collapsed. I lost consciousness and when I recovered, I was covered in black blood and did not know what it was. I was taken to a hospital [where it was] quickly discovered I had an ulcer, Barrett's esophagus, and then [it] all finished in double pneumonia.
"I spent over four weeks on a drip, but I refused a blood transfusion. I managed to do some more shows in the US, but when I arrived in Mexico the doctors told me to stop. Not being able to finish the tour was devastating, but doctors warned me: 'A few weeks ago you almost died, and now you say you'll do 18 shows more? Are you trying to kill yourself?' In fact, I think that was what I was doing".
"Seriously, I did not worry too much, because eventually we all die one day and in my case it would be better to die on stage than on a sofa covered with bread crumbs. Yes, the doctors told me: 'Do you realise that you are dying?' But it's so abstract to hear you do not know what to do. Furthermore, we are all dying, even when we sleep we are dying slowly, but until that happens, you give everything you have. There will be much time to rest, once we get to the grave".
In other Morrissey news, the man's concert at the Hollywood High School on March 2 is set for DVD release via Eagle Vision in August. Entitled Morrissey 25: Live, it will mark the silver jubilee of the singer's post-Smiths career.
Footage via morrissey-solo.com