By Anthony Mason, Analisa NovakLegendary rocker Paul Rodgers, best known as the frontman for the bands Free and Bad Company, has opened up about a health crisis that almost robbed him of his ability to sing. The singer and songwriter who has been making music for five decades had kept his struggle a secret — until now.
"I couldn't do anything to be honest," Rodgers said."I couldn't speak. That was the very strange thing. You know, I'd prepare something in my mind and I'd say it, but that isn't what came out and I'd go, 'What the heck did I just say?'" Cynthia Kereluk Rodgers, his wife, called the ordeal"terrifying."
During the surgery, doctors performed an endarterectomy, a procedure to remove plaque clogging a carotid artery, which posed a considerable risk to Rodgers' vocal cords. The recovery process was slow, marked by small victories, including Rodgers' return to playing the guitar and singing after six months.