The Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has confirmed that he battled lung cancer during lockdown.
“I’ve had cancer two different ways now. I had lung cancer in 2017, and I had small-cell more recently that I fought in the last lockdown.”
Wood said in a Sun interview that he has now been given “the all-clear.” He said he has stayed sober because of his faith in “a higher power.”
“I’m going through a lot of problems now, but throughout my recovery, you have to let it go,” he said. “And when you hand the outcome over to your higher power, that is a magic thing. That brings you back to the [Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous] Serenity Prayer: ‘Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.’ That’s incredible. What will be will be, it’s nothing to do with me. All I can do is stay positive in my attitude, be strong and fight it, and the rest is up to my higher power.”
Wood blamed his first lung cancer diagnosis on smoking “25 to 30 cigarettes a day for 50-odd years.” He had a five-hour operation to treat a small lung lesion.
“I was bloody lucky, but then I’ve always had a very strong guardian angel looking out for me,” he stated in a 2017 interview. “By rights I shouldn’t be here.”
