I feared my knee would collapse at any moment
The legendary rock singer and songwriter tells ROZ LEWIS how arthritis could have ended his performing career
WITH his shaggy brown hair and fresh-faced complexion, Colin Blunstone cuts a remarkably youthful figure for his 71 years. It’s hard to believe but The Zombies frontman has been recording and touring with his band for more than half a century.
“It is remarkable that I can still travel the world and sing and make records at this stage of my career,” says Colin, who is still best known for The Zombies’ hit She’s Not There, which topped the charts in the UK and the US in 1964. “I intend to carry on while I’m fit and healthy. All musicians want to keep performing, so I’m very grateful for the opportunities I’m getting.”
However 18 months ago it seemed age was finally catching up with him though. “I was having a lot of trouble with my right knee,” explains Colin, from the home he shares with his wife, Susi, near Woking, Surrey.
“I have always been sporty and active and even into my 40s and 50s I used to run a lot. I have done a half-marathon in the past and at one point in my life I was running seven to eight miles a day.
“But by my late 60s I was finding after a run of a couple of miles my knee would swell up and become painful. I’d then have to ice and rest it, then it would be okay. But then the knee started to feel as if it would give way or lock up. I worried this might happen on stage.”
COLIN was referred for an MRI scan, which showed he had two tears in the meniscus: the piece of cartilage that provides a cushion between the thighbone and the shinbone. He was then booked in for a keyhole procedure called an arthroscopy, where a long flexible tube and tiny surgical instruments are inserted into the joint to make repairs.
According to Professor Mark Wilkinson, of Arthritis Research UK, around 150,000 arthroscopies are performed each year in the UK. “The operation works best for patients who are in danger of having their knees ‘lock up’,” he explains. “The procedure is relatively quick and simple, and aftercare involves rest, painkillers and physiotherapy. With good rehabilitation, the operation should remove the experience of ‘locking’.
“Colin’s experience of knee discomfort is, unfortunately, familiar to millions of people in England. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. One in five adults aged over 45 in England has osteoarthritis of the knee, where the cartilage between the bones of the joint becomes damaged and wears away, and 6.1 per cent of these are affected by the severe form of the condition.”
Colin says: “When I went for surgery as a day patient at The Nuffield Health Hospital in Woking, it was a very routine procedure.
“The tears in the cartilage were repaired by keyhole surgery and the joint cleaned up and I walked out of the hospital, albeit with a very large bandage around my knee, that evening. The joint felt a bit stiff at first. I only took painkillers for a couple of days as strong pain medication makes me nauseous and then I have to take an antiemetic (anti-sickness medication) which is more hassle.”
A week later, he started weekly physiotherapy sessions to help rehabilitate his knee and strengthen the muscles around the joint.
Within a few days of the hospital visit, Colin was able to perform at a concert on Brighton Pier. “I managed to walk along the pier very slowly and I remember standing quite still when singing, to protect the leg but the concert went well.”
SINCE his operation the worry about his knee giving way while on stage has gone, much to Colin’s relief. “You do have to be physically fit to keep up with the demands of performing,” he says. “Before a concert, I am on my feet for a soundcheck and then the concert so it is quite physical, plus there is all the travel around it on a tour.”
And his advancing years mean that indulging in the wild rock’n’roll lifestyle he and many of his contemporaries enjoyed in their youth is now out of the question. Colin says early nights, fresh food and plenty of exercise are essential for older performers who want to stay on the road.
He keeps fit by walking briskly outside and makes sure he eats plenty of fruit and drinks lots of water to keep himself healthy. He has only ever cancelled a concert when he had laryngitis.
“I’m the type of performer who would prefer to be carried on for a concert, rather than cancel,” he admits and these days he still does regular vocal exercises to keep his voice strong.
“I went to a teacher who taught me some techniques to strengthen my voice. I do them every day, before a soundcheck and before the concert, to keep my voice in great shape.
“I really think it pays off to look after your body.
“We work for up to five consecutive nights when we’re on tour and then have a day off, so it is still quite vocally strenuous.
“Back in the 1960s and 1970s, musicians would go on to party after a concert but now we are more likely to rush back to the hotel in order to get a good night’s sleep.”