Anthony Kiedis has spoken out for the first time since being admitted to hospital last week, after a health scare forced Red Hot Chili Peppers to cancel a number of their scheduled live appearances.
Now Kiedis has revealed the extent of his illness in an interview with ET Canada. “It was a painful and sad thing to have to cancel shows, we don’t really do that,” apologised Kiedis. “I’d rather play deathly ill than not at all but in this particular instance I was starting to go down to the ground. I got some help and now I’ve got to figure things out.”
He went on to say that he had been diagnosed with intestinal flu in hospital, which combined with existing scar tissue from past hernia operations; led to unfortunate complications. “I had inflammation in my guts”, he said. “That becomes an incredibly painful situation where you get a fever and pass out”.
Kiedis also revealed that his illness may have been a blessing in disguise, as it’s made him have a hard look at his lifestyle choices that led to this bout of sickness. “I think I had to get sick to take a look at myself and get to the causes and conditions of my overall health,” he said.
“I push pretty hard sometimes and I do take my health for granted on a certain level because I feel strong and capable,” Kiedis revealed. “I surf most days and I like to charge, but every now and then, the body is like ‘you’re doing something wrong, either fix it or we’re gonna let you know about it’, and I think that my body let me know that I had to change my ways a little bit”.
In better news, Kiedis also indicated that he was on a slow mend – but that returning to full health and playing shows might still be some time off. “I feel good, not great, but good. Lo and behold, I’m on the mend”.
The Chilis new album The Getaway is due out June 17th.
Listen: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dark Necessities
![Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dark Necessities [OFFICIAL AUDIO]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qJ_Tw0w3lLA/hqdefault.jpg)
