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Silverchair Drummer Ben Gillies Reveals Why He May Never Tour Again

Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies has revealed that he may never tour again, after sustaining a serious shoulder injury at a Melbourne gym.

As News Corp Australia reports, 37-year-old Gillies has lodged a claim against the gym, claiming that he tore a tendon in his right shoulder during his first visit to the centre in 2014, after his trainer allegedly insisted that he keep bench pressing a weight which Gillies had said was “too heavy”. Gillies alleges that the trainer even increased the weight, despite his protests.

Gillies says the injury left him unable to drum for eight months, and his statement of claim against the gym suggests that he won’t ever be able to return to life as a touring musician.

“It is unlikely, given the nature of his injury, that [Gillies] will ever achieve pre-injury level of drumming skills to enable him to tour or return to his previous ability,” the statement reads.

“[Gillies] experiences severe pain and fatigue in his shoulder after drumming and, notwithstanding the deterioration in his skills, would not be able to undertake the gruelling demands a lengthy tour requires.”

Gillies says the injury has also led him to suffer from anxiety, depression and scarring, as well as muscle inflammation and a loss of shoulder girdle function.

He also claims that the injury meant he had to turn down roles on reality television shows I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Celebrity Apprentice and Celebrity Big Brother. He is now seeking damages from the gym and the trainer, including for income he supposedly lost through not being able to accept those TV offers.

Gillies is expected to release a solo album under his own name later this year, but it appears likely that he won’t take the album on tour.

Silverchair went into “indefinite hibernation” back in 2011, and released their latest album Young Modern in 2007.

Watch: Silverchair – ‘Straight Lines’

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