The Rolling Stones Guitarist Ronnie Wood Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

The Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has revealed a recent lung cancer diagnosis. The 70-year-old underwent a five-hour surgery as part of his treatment.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Wood detailed how a routine medical exam in May led to the discovery of a tumor in his lung. A smoker for 50 years, Wood recently quit when his twin daughters we born.

“I’ve had a fight with a touch of lung cancer,” Wood told the Daily Mail. “There was a week when everything hung in the balance and it could have been curtains – time to say goodbye. You never know what is going to happen.”

Opting for surgery rather than chemotherapy, Wood told the Mail that he made the decision because, “I wasn’t going to lose my hair. This hair wasn’t going anywhere.”

Wood has been keeping busy with a growing portfolio of paintings, sculptures, sketches and woodcuts that are captured in his new book Ronnie Wood: Artist. The Rolling Stones and Wood return to performing in September when they will embark on a European Fall Tour.