‘ I’ve been singing real hard for 52 years’
The strain of performing caught up to Bob Seger, but he hopes to get his Runaway Train rolling again.
Bob Seger was three weeks into his tour when the numb tingle first crept into his hands.
“Whoa, this is weird,” Seger remembers thinking after a Sept. 12 show in Rochester, N. Y.
At 72, the rocker had been riding high. His 32- show tour was packing arenas and reviews were glowing. Beyond the nightly set of time- tested hits, Seger and the Silver Bullet Band had been rehearsing his new songs, prepping for the release of I
Knew You When, his emotional tribute to late friend and Eagles cofounder Glenn Frey.
But now his hands were tingling, and the MRI results were startling: Seger had ruptured a disc in his neck. His spinal cord was severely pinched. That medical evaluation, undisclosed until now, would lead to an intense spinal surgery, interrupting his tour.
“Let’s face it: I’ve been singing real hard for 52 years,” Seger says. “That’s a strain on the upper shoulders and neck. And I guess I finally just popped one out.”
Specialists viewing Seger’s scans were amazed by his lack of pain — “you should be screaming,” one told him — and advised him it was safe to continue performing unless the numbness moved elsewhere.
“If you start dragging a leg,” he says they told him, “run for emergency.”
For two weeks, Seger persevered with his Runaway Train Tour. Then it hit. Ahead of a scheduled Sept. 30 date in Columbus, Ohio, Seger woke up at his suburban Detroit home, walked out of his bedroom and realized: “Jesus, I’m dragging my left leg.”
“I said, ‘ OK, that’s it! Pulling the plug!’ ” Seger recounts. Carrying on would risk permanent nerve damage.
His remaining 19 dates were called off as he braced for a grueling spinal operation through the back of his neck. Less drastic procedures were available, but this one would steer clear of the larynx that had long fueled one of rock’s most distinctive voices.
Seger underwent his cervical laminectomy Oct. 20, and doctors were pleased with the outcome.
Now, he’s improving daily, though a consistent neck pain remains and the only real relief comes with sleep.
For Seger and Silver Bullet, the tour postponement was frustrating because they’d been excited about the new album. Seger hopes that chance will now come in March or April.