The Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer during the coronavirus pandemic.
Wood, 73, revealed his battle with small-cell cancer in a new interview with The Sun.
“I’ve had cancer two different ways now,” Ronnie told The Sun. “I had lung cancer in 2017, and I had small-cell more recently that I fought in the last lockdown.”
Fortunately, Wood is apparently now on the mend, saying he’s gotten the “all-clear” from doctors. He credited his swift recovery as the result of getting sober and “putting his fate in the hands of a ‘higher power.'”
“I’m going through a lot of problems now, but throughout my recovery, you have to let it go,” Wood commented. “And when you hand the outcome over to your higher power, that is a magic thing.”
“That brings you back to [Alcoholics Anonymous’] Serenity Prayer: ‘Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.’ That’s incredible,” Wood continued. “What will be will be, it’s nothing to do with me. All I can do is stay positive in my attitude, be strong and fight it, and the rest is up to my higher power.”
Wood also said he kept himself distracted by painting: “Art therapy was self-imposed in a way, especially in lockdown,” he explained. “The art has got me through it — to express and get lost. I’ve done so much work.”
Now that he’s healthy, Wood said he is looking forward to returning to the road with The Rolling Stones once the band is able to resume its “No Filter Tour”.
