The frontman of Scottish rock band Del Amitri has revealed in an interview he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Justin Currie from Glasgow confirmed he was diagnosed with the brain condition after suspecting an issue when he was having trouble holding the plectrum for his guitar.
Del Amitri, best known for hits such as Nothing Ever Happens and Roll to Me, reformed in 2014 and are due to support Simple Minds during their upcoming European tour.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4, the musician said: “When you are doing something you know really well, like riding a bike or something and you suddenly can’t do it properly anymore – you think you’re going mad.
“I was spending the whole time on tour, when I was still playing the guitar on this song, just thinking about where the plectrum was between my fingers, and when you start thinking about things like that then all the other stuff just starts falling apart.”
The band are also due to headline HebCelt festival on the Isle of Lewis in July this summer.
The frontman says he plans to keep playing despite “the uneasy feeling that another man is growing inside me slowing ceasing the means of control”.
HebCeltHe added: “As lead singer and song writing leader steadiness has been my strongest suit.
“I might be a mediocrity, but I’m always there and reliable. Now I’m somewhere else, distracted and flaky.
“Sometimes you have to second guess the phrasing of a rhythm, something that would normally come naturally.
“The other things that has been hard is getting up to notes, because you just lose a bit of control over your muscles.
“Things I used to use my diaphragm to hit, I now I have to do in the throat.”
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