Del Amitri singer Justin Currie says Parkinson's disease symptoms makes guitar playing 'very hard'

Del Amitri singer Justin Currie has said he is finding it “very hard” to play guitar now because of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

The Scottish songwriter, 60, revealed his diagnosis with the degenerative condition last year, and said he is now “losing control” of one of his hands, which will affect his ability to play bass.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: “You get good weeks and bad weeks, I think. And I’ve felt quite asymptomatic recently, slight tremor this morning.

“When you feel normal, it’s like being high, because you feel you don’t have any major symptoms, and then you get weeks where you’re just, you feel very, very, very ill. It’s a very odd thing.”

He added: “It’s hard to navigate. It’s hard knowing what kind of nick you’re going to be in from gig to gig.

“And you also fear that at some point you’re going to be standing on stage and you’ll just have to put your hands up and go, ‘I can’t really do this any more’.”

Currie said he did not go public with his diagnosis straight away as he did not want to tell his mother, who later died.

Justin Currie appeared on BBC Breakfast (BBC/PA) PA Media

Speaking about performing, he said: “Sometimes, if you’re not feeling great (on stage), you just have this little voice in your head going, ‘I’ve really got to stop doing this’.

“But then you finish a gig and you go, ‘Yes, another one down, I got away with it’.

“So we’ve kind of discussed at what point do we have to stop? And the guys in the band are all very on it.

“So I’ll say to them after a tour, ‘Look, how’s it going? Do we need to maybe get a bass player now?’ And they’ll say, ‘No, no, it’s fine. You’re fine’.

“So I think a lot of what’s going on inside your head, you don’t really see in the outside.”

He added: “I can sort of argue with it (the voice in his head) when I’m on stage … it nips away at your confidence, partly because you’re losing a bit of control.

“So I’m losing control of this hand. So I’ll make more mistakes when I’m playing the bass. I find playing the guitar very hard now.

“So I can argue back with it. I mean, I call the tremor man Gavin, so I can kind of argue with him … I spoke to other people, other musicians with Parkinson’s, and they all say that at some point you know you’ve got to stop, you seize up during a show … I’m just hoping that is some way in the future.”

Asked if music helps his symptoms, he said: “Just doing my job is, doing this is good for me, because I’m not sitting around going, ‘Don’t feel pretty’ or ‘What’s happening?’.”

Del Amitri formed in Glasgow in 1980, and are known for songs including Nothing Ever Happens, which peaked at number 11 in the UK singles chart.

The group have also had six top ten albums in the UK albums chart.

Parkinson’s disease is a condition where parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years, according to the NHS website.

The health service says the condition, characterised by involuntary shaking of parts of the body, as well as slow movement and stiff muscles, is caused by a loss of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra.

Celebrities including Back To The Future star Michael J Fox, comedian Sir Billy Connolly and late Black Sabbath star Ozzy Osbourne were diagnosed with the disease.