Madness guitarist Chris Foreman was inundated with support from fans after revealing that he had been diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer. In the heartbreaking Facebook post, the musician confirmed that the disease is "treatable" and remains hopeful he will get back to a 'normal life' once he is in remission. In his statement, Chris penned: "A message to you from me - CB. Dear all, earlier this year I had severe pain in my upper back and shoulders. On the 28th of June we played a show in France and it had become unbearable. I had an MRI scan at the end of June and they found a tumour on my spine.
"On the 4th of July, I went to the Royal Sussex and had all sorts of stuff done to me. I had radiotherapy, which blasted it and stopped the pain. I actually had a spinal tap too - rock n roll! I wasn't in good shape, to say the least. My kidneys were only at 14% function, which has greatly improved since then. What I've got is a form of cancer called myeloma. It's treatable but not curable."
According to the NHS, Myeloma is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. Sadly, Chris isn't the only one from the 70s pop band to face major health battles over the years.
In his statement, Chris made a heartfelt admission and continued: "One of the worst side effects is that I can't drink alcohol but I've mastered a non alcoholic margarita and those zero alcohol beers ain't too bad these days.
"It's been really hard not being onstage with the band this year. They've worked really hard and the shows looked great.
"I don't know how they did it without me, to be fair. I won't be able to do Butlins or the tour this year, which is a great shame but... 'I'LL BE BACK!'"
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Madness's lead singer, Graham McPherson, also known as Suggs, has been open about the various difficulties, including mental health issues, that he faced following the band's rise in popularity.
Despite being in the group and having millions of fans, the 64-year-old revealed he felt "paranoid and alone" during his wild younger years after experimenting with drugs.
The band admits that they got into plenty of trouble in their youth and were reportedly always "on the verge of going to prison."
(Image: Getty)
Suggs admitted that he developed a crippling and dangerous ecstasy habit after turning his back on the music industry during a period where he felt "a bit lost".
Speaking to the Mirror, the singer shared that it was triggered by the fact that his estranged photographer dad, William, had been addicted to heroin and died in 1975 when Suggs was just 14.
He said: "The band had just split up. I had two young kids, and I just wanted to get back to reality. 'F*** being a pop star for a bit', I thought. Because of what happened to my dad, I'd always said to myself I'd never take heroin, but then ecstasy came along and everyone was doing it, and it just seemed like a bit of fun."
(Image: Getty)
