Cancer Scare Forces Fish Into Retirement

Fish, former frontman for the band Marillion has reportedly been “forced to retire” from the music business for at least six months due to a cancer scare. Fish told fans on his MySpace blog that he had “irregular cell growth” on one of his vocal chords. The singer is awaiting more tests to determine exactly how long he’ll have to be out of action.

Read an excerpt from his message to fans after the break:

Either way I have come to grips with this as much as I can under the circumstances.
In all honesty I am 50 year old, I smoke(d), drink, have a “colourful” history, have sung nearly 1700 gigs in 27 years and have conducted probably three times as many interviews. It’s like standing on the M1 and expecting not to be hit by a car

I am taking at least 6 months off from singing. I’d like to think that I can play some festivals in the summer of 2009 but there will be no arranged tours until 2010.
I don’t plan to even contemplate a new album until the end of next year.
It all depends on what happens in the coming weeks. There are no set plans for any musical activity at the moment or in the near future.

Either way I intend to get to work on that elusive novel and start studying and writing screenplays. My acting career I would like to reopen and I definitely want to spend a lot more time at home. There are bundles of unwrapped cunning plans.
It’s a bit scary as I haven’t had a “blank” year for as long as I can remember and the prospect of being “unemployed” is quite weird!
It’s an exhilarating time and not since I left my forestry career behind in 1980 have I found myself in such an exciting and frightening position in my life.

Katie has been a tremendous support as have my family, Yatta, Frank and my band and crew and a strong network of close and dear friends all of whom have helped me deal with the last few months and kept me focused on what is important.
Thanks to them and to all of you who supported me over the last album and tour and made me smile when it was hard to remember how to.

My spirits are high and I will deal with whatever happens in my own inimitable fashion,

See you on stage sometime

lots of love
Fish x

Check out the full message here.