Skunk Anansie’s long-time bass player Cass Lewis has revealed that he was diagnosed with stage four cancer while recording the band’s just-announced new album, The Painful Truth.
The musician shared the news with fans and journalists at an emotional Q&A and playback of the rock band’s seventh record – their first in nine years – in London on Monday (24 February).
Appearing with his bandmates, including singer Skin, guitarist Ace and drummer Mark Richardson, Cass said he thought his “f***ing cards had been marked” when he received the diagnosis.
“During the process of recording I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and so I was having chemo while we were making the album,” he said. “I thought my f***ing cards had been marked, actually, and so I was just, I was happy with having had a good life, and I was quite content, you know, I accepted whatever my fate was.
“I wouldn’t think about the work, the record, I would think about my life. I’d had some very intensive chemo sessions, and no one knew [anything]. I just thought, I’m on this long road of chemo. And that took a year.”
Wiping away tears, he shared that Skin’s daughter had woken up one morning and told her, “Uncle Cass is not sick anymore.”
“About two weeks later, I had to go and have tests to see how the chemo was affecting me, and they couldn’t find any cancer,” he said. “So from stage four, it disappeared. So her little angel is my little angel. As soon as I knew that I wasn’t going anywhere, I was ‘Just get back on the record. There’s nothing better to work for!”
Skin explained that the album’s title was Cass’s idea, inspired by his personal experiences as well as the band’s ups and downs through the years.
“That’s what all the songs are about, that connects everything, that connects what we’ve been through over the last few years,” she said. “It’s the connection with these guys. I love them to bits, you know, they’re my brothers.
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“What we’re going through, and everything, it’s quite emotional, it’s the painful truth. It’s what you’re here for, and what’s important in your life, and what you’re going to do about it. That’s the painful truth!”
The new album is scheduled for release on 23 May and available for pre-order now. Skunk Anansie have also announced a headline tour, including two sold-out shows at the Roundhouse in London.
