The singer, who suffers from pancreatic cancer, performed in Paris this Tuesday, February 11, before interrupting his tour. He spoke quickly about his illness.
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Arno, this Tuesday, February 11, on the stage of the Trianon, at PariS. | AFP / CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT
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I haven’t been drinking for three months, my liver was on strike. Okay, two bars went bankrupt
: Belgian singer Arno gave a concert on Tuesday Paris before to stop his tour to be operated on for pancreatic cancer, a disease which he revealed was affected this weekend.
13 concerts postponed
The 70-year-old artist with a rocky voice and a white mane performed at the Trianon, the last concert before an operation planned in Brussels and a six-week recovery.
This forced him to postpone 13 concerts of his tour in France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, in the wake of the release in September of his album Santeboutique
.
Obviously in good shape Tuesday evening, he made no other allusion to his illness than his joke on his abstinence, before the song Lady Alcohol
. In recent weeks, he has performed on stage despite his chemotherapy.
People who know I have cancer wonder why I’m on stage. But you should know that this is the scene that gives me the most energy. When I know I’m going to play, I feel galvanized
, he assured Saturday in an interview with the Flemish daily From Standaard.
Early stage pancreatic cancer
At the beginning of November, my girlfriend told me that I had a yellow complexion
, said the artist from Ostend, the city which gives his name to an intimate song from his latest album (Oostende good evening
).
I went to my treating doctor and he took a blood test. Shortly after, I received a phone call. I had to go to the hospital urgently. There, they diagnosed me with early pancreatic cancer
, continued the rocker.
Known for his broken Tom Waits voice with a Flemish accent, his exuberance and his taste for excess, Arno began his career with the rock group TC Matic in the 80s, including the song Damn, damn
(Damn, damn, it’s really good, we are all Europeans nonetheless
, say the lyrics).
It was solo that he later revealed himself to a wider audience, thanks to songs like his cover of Seaside girls
from another Belgian, Adamo.
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