Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has revealed that he is a cancer free. When asked about his illness during a new interview with Metro, the 70-year-old English musician answered, “I had three months of check-ups and it was all clear and they said go and enjoy life.”
Wood was diagnosed with lung cancer in early in 2017, though he didn’t announce the news until August of last year. The guitarist explained that doctors had discovered, “a supernova burning away on my left lung … He asked me what I wanted to do and my answer was simple: ‘Just get it out of me.’” At the time, Wood decided to forgo chemotherapy treatment because he was afraid of losing his hair. Apparently, it’s a decision he doesn’t regret.
“I don’t want to lose my hair,” Wood told Metro in the new interview. “If your body is riddled with cancer, it’s a losing cause. Luckily, all mine was contained within the left lung and I was fortunate enough to get shot of it, bang. There was none in the rest of my body so I didn’t require chemo.” Wood added that, after smoking for 50 years, it’s “a wonder I wasn’t riddled with cancer in both lungs. It’s a wonder they both didn’t explode.”
The Rolling Stones will return to the road this summer when they play a number of shows in Europe over the course of May, June, and July.