A legendary musician calling time on their career is always a bittersweet moment, but for Peter Frampton , the circumstances that have led to his retirement from live performance are particularly poignant. Four years ago, the guitarist was diagnosed with a degenerative muscle disorder called inclusion body myositis which has slowly made the rigours of touring more challenging for the year-old. The disease will eventually hamper his ability to play guitar, and so in February he revealed his diagnosis and announced his intention to play one final tour while he still can.
He remains positive when we chat to him ahead of the final UK leg of his farewell tour, and enthusiastic as he prepares to embark on a new chapter in his life.
I knew that venue would be the classiest farewell. In the meantime, however, Frampton will be keeping himself busy with the altogether different challenge of becoming a grandfather for the first time. People keep repeating that performing is my passion. Indeed, his diagnosis has spurred him on to use his platform to bring further attention to the condition that ails him.
My tour manager always leaves the IBM patients last so we have time to discuss things. It came to a head at an outdoor gig when I lost my balance kicking a beach ball back to the audience. I saw a neurologist, where he diagnosed IBM.
After he decamped from Humble Pie, Frampton spent six years writing material that would be cut on "Comes Alive! Naturally, the label wanted a follow-up matching Frampton's newfound success in much less time. He transformed publicly from a rock guitarist to teen idol who often donned satin pants and once posed shirtless for a Rolling Stone cover the latter he described as a "big mistake" in the book.
That I was lost before I started to even think about the next record. That it wasn't going to be as good because I needed six year to write the material, like I did on 'Comes Alive! Frampton writes about the mistakes that followed his breakout album. He's honest — sometimes harsh — on his role in panned film "Sgt.
But hindsight is easy. It scared me. It scared me to death. Nearly a decade after his meteoric rise and eventual crash, Frampton found a helping hand in a lifelong friend — David Bowie. Growing up a few years apart, Bowie and Frampton attended school together in the U. At school, Bowie took art classes from Frampton's father, Owen Frampton.
Growing up in local bands, the two often shared club show lineups. Getting around is getting more difficult. Does the disease have any impact on your singing voice? What sort of treatment are you getting for it? They have traditional medicine that is working.
They are coming out with some drug trials. That is something that is in the future. Right now, the only thing that works for me is exercise. I work out like a maniac all the time. It seems to be the best possible thing for IBM is to work out every day. Hopefully that will come out in June when the tour starts. How are you doing emotionally in the light of all this? I always have been. One dollar from every ticket on the tour is going to go straight to Johns Hopkins, that fund.
Only 24, people in this country know they have it. Might you play Frampton Comes Alive! I think it will be all-encompassing of what we do in the final setlist that we put together. This will be something different. Do you think in hindsight that album became so successful that it was almost damaging to your career? Damaging squared! But my credibility has always been there amongst those who know. Thanks to David Bowie, myself and a few other people and a Grammy for my instrumental album, my career got turned around.
I take responsibility for the satin pants. And for being shirtless on the album cover? It could have been a lot better had I been in a better mental state at that point, but my head exploded just before we went in the studio there. It was a vast change in lifestyle or affect on my lifestyle. In fact, Frampton says Anthony did have criminal connections.
Early in his solo career, the manager introduced him to his associate Joey Pagano, a known mafia don. Even after he fired Anthony, the guitarist struggled financially and creatively.
At a low point, he got a puzzling call from Pete Townshend who told him he was leaving the Who and wanted to know if he would take his place. Consequently, he first turned the offer down. The result energized his spirit. These days, Frampton says he feels largely well. And he just cut a new song with members of the Doobie Brothers. Regarding his current ailment, Frampton takes a philosophical view.
But I have to put it in perspective. Jim Farber. Read more.
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