Rod Argent suffered a stroke, resulting in his immediate retirement from touring. The 79-year-old Zombies keyboardist is recovering at home after an overnight hospital stay, with doctors advising several months of rest and recovery.
The news came in the form of a statement from the band's managers Chris Tuthill and Cindy da Silva on Thursday (July 11), which noted that the group's founding member had spent a weekend in London with his wife Cathy to also celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary. until his birthday before his hospitalization. All upcoming appearances on The Zombies' schedule have now been cancelled, including the band's two UK festival shows scheduled for later this month. A US tour in the fall of 2024 was also in the works before his stroke.
“He was already preparing to close his live schedule following health scares on recent tours,” the statement read. “However, the stroke was an undeniable warning sign that the risks are too great.”
Although he will no longer play with the English rock pioneers, Argent plans to continue writing and recording with bandmates Tom Toomey, Søren Koch, Colin Blunstone and Steve Rodford. According to Tuthill and da Silva, “he's already back at his piano for some much-needed 'Bach therapy.'
Additionally, Zombies' second annual Begin Here festival in St Albans UK will go ahead as planned in November, although their show will be replaced with a special show in honor of Argent. Right now, the band's team is asking fans to hold on to their tickets until they “have time to regroup and announce new plans.”
Argent's retirement from touring pretty much ends, with The Zombies starting in the early 60s. He had previously left the band in 1975 to focus on his family and become a songwriter, but agreed to temporarily join a few gigs in 1999 – which turned into 25 more years of touring and recording with the band. The band had two chart-topping albums on the Billboard 200 — 1965's self-titled release and 1969's Odessey & Oracle — as well as five Billboard Hot 100 hits during his career.
“Our final message is that if a classical artist who has created music you love is playing nearby, don't miss the opportunity to see them,” Tuthill and da Silva's message concludes. “You can sit on the couch and binge Netflix another day. The shared experience of a live performance by a veteran artist is a unique and joyous moment. These artists are treasures that have stood the test of time and give it their all, but they are fragile human beings like all of us.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/zombies-rod-argent-suffers-stroke-retires-from-touring-1235729130/
