Udo Dirkschneider is dealing with a “serious health” issue and and will be “a bit handicapped on stage” during U.D.O.’s upcoming tour. The former ACCEPT frontman, who turned 66 last April, has ignored doctors’ advice when deciding whether to return to the road and will join his bandmates as they kick off a European run of headlining shows on January 20 in Madrid, Spain.
Earlier today, the following message was posted on the U.D.O. Facebook page:
“Dear U.D.O. fans,
Unfortunately, we have to tell you that Udo has a serious health problem since early January. He has pain in his left knee and couldn’t walk at all for a longer period. He has been to different specialists in Russia, Ibiza and Germany and now he is on a good way to recover. But he is still handicaped and can’t move that much without having pain. Against all advises of the doctors, he has decided to play the tour and not postponing it since he hates to let his fans down. But this means that he is a bit handicapped on stage and can’t move that much. We are very sorry for this, but we still have the opinion that this is better than postponing the complete tour.
Thanks and see you all on tour!”