David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Roundhouse“I’ve had a fight with a touch of lung cancer,” Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood revealed to The Daily Mail in an interview published Sunday.
In May, a spokesman for the guitarist acknowledged that he had an operation to treat a small lung lesion but on Sunday Wood revealed the extent of his ailment.
The 70-guitarist said, “I’m OK now,” after a five-hour operation to remove part of a lung. “I was bloody lucky but then I’ve always had a very strong guardian angel looking out for me. By rights I shouldn’t be here,” Wood said.
The cancer was discovered turning a routine checkup in May, a checkup required of all the Stones band members before the group goes on tour.
The guitarist told the paper, “I had this thought at the back of my mind after I gave up smoking a year ago: ‘How can I have got through 50 years of chain-smoking – and all the rest of my bad habits – without something going on in there?’”
Wood said that if it had been discovered that the cancer was worse than feared, he was not going to pursue aggressive treatment. “I made up my mind that if it had spread I wasn’t going to go through chemo, I wasn’t going to use that bayonet in my body,” he said, adding, “I wasn’t going to lose my hair. This hair wasn’t going anywhere.”
Wood said he’s now living a clean life but admits that after decades of the rock and roll lifestyle, he’s surprised to still be here.
“Did I think I’d ever make it to see this? Hell no!” Wood said. “Someone up there must like me. And luckily someone down here likes me too.”
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