Popular Rock Band Cancels Concert Due To Member’s Medical Emergency

Family comes first, even in the libertine world of hard rock.

That’s the message being sent by one longtime band after its lead guitarist received a cancer diagnosis on Monday. Jimmy Herring, who has led the sounds of “Widespread Panic” since 2006, will undergo immediate treatment, forcing the quartet to cancel the remainder of their national summer tour. The disappointing news was made in a statement by the band online. “The Widespread Panic Family is sad to report that our Brother, Jimmy Herring, has been diagnosed with stage 1 tonsil cancer,” they wrote in a statement issued to Instagram, the Daily Caller reported. “He will begin treatment immediately and is expected to make a full recovery. That part we’re happy to report.”

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“The Band will not be playing the upcoming Asheville dates. We will have a clearer picture of our future concert schedule in the next few days. We thank everyone for their concern and Blessings as Jimmy and his Family go through this healing process. Let the Healing begin,” the group added.

Herring, 62, has delivered timeless riffs across Widespread Panic’s 14 studio albums and dozens of live recordings. He has charted with top ballads including “Porch Song,” “Surprise Valley,” and “Chilly Water,” all of which managed respectable debuts in the late 80s and early 90s. In addition to touring with his longtime band members, Herring has found time to dabble in side projects with Frogwings, Jazz is Dead, and The Other Ones, a consortium of former members of the Grateful Dead. The North Carolina native got his start in 1987 as a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and performed with some of the original members of the Allman Brothers prior to their death, continuing to play with fellow guitar hero Derek Trucks of the Tedeschi Trucks Band.

No other information about his prognosis was immediately available, the Caller reported.

The world of class rock has had several medical setbacks this year. In February, Mick Jones, the iconic guitarist and founding member of the legendary rock band Foreigner, disclosed that he has been quietly battling Parkinson’s disease for several years. Ann Wilson, who has led the five-member Heart since its inception in 1967, announced earlier this month she is undergoing treatment for an aggressive form of cancer, forcing the band to pause its tour schedule while she took a year away from the stage to recover.

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