Buckethead reveals possible life-threatening heart condition

photo not mine. credit where its due.

Legendary Rock/Metal guitarist Buckethead revealed in a rare out-of-character interview with Coming Alive Podcast that he suffers from a severe heart condition that makes small tasks difficult for him.

He explained in the podcast that the condition makes his heartbeat out of rhythm and that he had been dealing with the symptoms for sometime. He kept letting it go, thinking it would take care of itself eventually, and when the symptoms worsened, decided to seek medical attention.

“They suggested I had a thing called an ablation, they go in and freeze your heart. It’s supposed to do something with the nerves, because they said my heart was fine, but it could be a genetic thing, they didn’t really know. I had that procedure, and it didn’t really stop it, and I’m still dealing with it," he said of the procedure his doctors performed for his condition.

Referring to now having to take medication for the condition, he said it's hard for him because "I never took anything my whole life, although if I eat food or drink something that’s probably worse anyway (laughs). So it’s been really difficult, because it’s scary because it comes on. Even walking across a room is difficult, luckily the medication I’m thankful for, because it’s kept it from going berserk, but it’s pretty intense.”

When asked if the condition has affected his music at all, he told Coming Alive that he was recording new music the next day while lying in bed. He said he recorded with a friend just because he was thankful to still be here.

"I could be gone tomorrow. Anybody could be gone, but that's a heavy experience. I want to play right now, and I want to play that experience."

I was lucky enough to catch Buckethead live last year and he is a true showman. I wish him a speedy recovery.

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