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The Wanted‘s Max George has given fans another update about his health. After revealing plans to spend the Christmas holiday in hospital to deal with an undisclosed heart problem, the 36-year-old former boy bander said he is headed back to deal with some additional issues.
In an Instagram video posted earlier this week, George noted that he’d had a pacemaker installed to help regulate his heartbeat before saying that he was scheduled to go back to the hospital again this week due to some issues with the device. “I’ve been getting this flicking feeling in the left side of my chest,” he said in the clip in which he’s petting his bulldog Albert.
“I’m actually getting it right now,” he said in the video. “I was wondering if you guys knew what it might be or if you’ve experienced it yourself because the doctors aren’t too sure. Maybe it’s touching a nerve and it’ll go away in time or they might have to move a wire slightly, but I’m all ears because all I’m doing is research. I know nothing about pacemakers. This came completely out of the blue. Any information I could get would be most appreciated.”
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Fans, of course, were more than happy to weigh in after George captioned the post with a request for any help his followers might be able offer. “Hubby has heart failure and has an ICD fitted (defibrillator + pacemaker in one) and he has a Boston Device on his bedside cabinet which downloads automatically and sends to the hospital. He had a shock – the hospital knew and called us straight away. They also know when he paces irregularly. Look into this Max. You’ll be okay,” wrote one.
Another said their mom is a nurse and she said that it was likely just the pacemaker’s battery regulating his heartbeat and that things should be fine, while another one had a similar device installed said they’ve had that feeling before and it’s likely a matter of needing a small adjustment.
In a December 10 update, George posted a picture of his chest after the pacemaker surgery, writing, “Say hello to my little friend! Given the last 10 days, this is the best Christmas present I could have ever wished for. Pacemaker is in. Operation took around 2 and half hours. The main issue being some of my veins had collapsed where the wires were meant to go… But the hospital surgeons, doctors and nurses at the NHS have been incredible. I owe everything to them.”
He added that the surgeon installed the device just under a “very special tattoo” on his chest, the date 04.08.1988, the birth date of his former Wanted bandmate, Tom Parker, who died in 2022 at age 33 due to brain cancer.
While it’s been a rough month, on New Year’s Eve George gave thanks for everything he has, writing, “2024.. Certainly a year I won’t forget! So lucky to have the life that I have. I can’t wait for the next chapter, no matter what challenges lie ahead. I wish everyone an amazing night tonight.. and that 2025 brings you good health and the best year!”
British boy band The Wanted – whose other members inclue Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness, Siva Kaneswaran and the late Parker — went on indefinite hiatus in 2014. After Parker’s death, the living members reunited to re-record their song “Gold Forever” in his honor. George and Kaneswaran got together earlier this year to form The Wanted 2.0, with the duo touring the U.K. last summer, with brief another run of English dates planned for this year, including a pair of summer festival gigs.
Check out George’s video below.
Just a few days in, Kesha is already having a killer 2025. The “Delusional” singer took to X on Thursday (Jan. 2) to crow about the fact that her debut single, “Tik Tok,” is back on top again. “It was 15 years ago that I got my first #1 song! YALL did that. And the […]
Former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee says he’s lucky to be alive following a sepsis diagnosis over the holiday period.
The Swedish percussionist shared news of his health scare on social media on Thursday (Dec. 2), explaining that he had been hospitalized following a blood infection he described as “very serious”.
“I was admitted for three weeks but now I am home fighting this bastard bacteria,” he shared. “Thankfully, I have received fantastic care at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, my hometown.
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“So thanks a million to all the Doctors and Nurses that have been giving me the most excellent care,” he added. “After several operations, I am now back home and the numbers are all going in the right direction. Still lots of recovery and rehab in front of me.”
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In an interview with Swedish publication Aftonbladet, Dee expanded upon the experience. He told the outlet that what began as a simple sprain quickly evolved into something far worse on the weekend before Christmas.
“The ankle swelled up like hell, then it took on a weird shape and appearance and looked like an overcooked ham,” Dee said. “I became very ill so I had to go by ambulance to Sahlgrenska and there they found that I had sky-high values, so I became priority one there.
“It was surgery right away, the first of three. They cut away what was dead and infected and badly infested. It was not a good journey I was on… Another day and I’d be playing drums with Lemmy in heaven. I can say that.”
In some strange synchronicity, Dee’s brush with death occurred almost nine years to the day since his Motörhead bandmate Lemmy Kilmister passed away, on Dec. 28, 2015. Notably, his health scare also took place mere weeks after he took to social media to refute premature reports of his death.
First rising to fame as a member of Danish outfit King Diamond in the ’80s, a stint with Don Dokken saw Dee recruited by Motörhead to replace Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor on drums. Dee would remain with the group until their 2015 dissolution in the wake of Lemmy’s passing, and joined German rockers the Scorpions the following year.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is destined to always evolve, says chairman John Sykes, but while new categories could arrive in the future, a new name for the establishment is out of the question.
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Sykes’ comments were published in a new interview with Vulture, which arrived on Tuesday (Dec. 31), just one day before the 2024 Rock Hall induction ceremony hit streaming services. In the piece, Sykes opens up about the current state of the foundation, and touches on previous calls for a name change, especially given how more pop and hip-hop artists have found themselves inducted in recent years.
“I think it’s because some people don’t understand the meaning of rock and roll,” Sykes explains. “If you go back to the original sound in the ’50s, it was everything. As Missy Elliott calls it, it was a gumbo. It just became known as rock and roll. So when I hear people say, ‘You should just change it to the Music Hall of Fame,’ rock and roll has pretty much covered all of that territory. Rather than throwing the name out, it’s doing a better job of communicating to people where rock and roll came from and what it’s truly about. Once they hear it that way, they understand.
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“The best story to convey this was when a great friend of mine, Jay-Z, got inducted a few years ago,” he continued. “I was so excited. But he told me, ‘Rock is dead. It should be called the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.’ And I said, ‘Well, hip-hop is rock and roll.’ He goes, ‘No, it isn’t.’ And I said, ‘We’ve got to do a better job explaining it. Little Richard, Otis Redding, Chuck Berry — these artists were the cornerstones of rock and roll. If you look at the sounds over the years, those artists ended up influencing hip-hop.’ Jay-Z hemmed and hawed, but he showed up to the ceremony. That made me feel like we had done our job to communicate that rock and roll is open to all.”
These comments echo Sykes’ previous recollection of the discussion, as printed in Jay-Z’s Book of HOV just last month.
“My last words, as I pleaded for Jay to come to Cleveland to accept his award, were that rock n’ roll is not any one sound, rather a gumbo,” he wrote. “To paraphrase the great Berry Gordy, rock n’ roll created the sound of young America. It’s a spirit, and the spirit of hip-hop and rap connected rock n’ roll with an entirely new generation.”
Elsewhere in his new discussion, Sykes also looked towards the future of the Rock Hall and the potential for further new categories. While the annual induction ceremony has always featured Performers, Musical Influences (previously called ‘Early Influences’ before 2023), and the Ahmet Ertegun Award (previously called ‘Non-Performers’ before 2008) as categories, it has expanded further in the past.
In 2000, the Rock Hall introduced the Sidemen category to honor those who are often overlooked in the grand scheme of things, with the category being renamed the Award for Musical Excellence in 2010. Likewise, between 2018 and 2020, roughly half-a-dozen songs were chosen each year as the singles that shaped rock history. As Sykes explains, there’s the potential to dig even deeper into the music industry to honor those who keep the industry turning.
“We’ve discussed ways we could recognize not only artists but those around them who’ve had an impact on the sound of rock and roll. Fans often don’t even know who helped break these artists,” he added. “It could be record-company presidents, it could be lawyers, it could be agents. We also want to look at specific songs that change culture. That could be another category.”
Concluding his interview, Sykes also discussed a number of artists who have been overlooked in previous years, including The B-52s, “Weird Al” Yankovic, the Pixies, and Phil Collins‘ solo career.
Labelling Yankovic a “genius” who is yet to make it “close” to the ballot, Sykes expressed confidence that the others may make it in some day.
“There’s been a group of nominees who’ve been passionate about the Pixies,” he said. “The same thing with Warren Zevon, who actually did get on the ballot one year. I’m passionate about Warren, and he’ll get in, too. But the Pixies have had a lot of support.”
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It was a landmark 2024 for Jimin, and the star snagged yet another win in Billboard’s recent fan-voted poll for best K-pop album of 2024. With 41% of the votes, the singer’s Muse took the victory. However, four of the top five was claimed by Jimin’s BTS bandmates, with Jin’s Happy coming in second, RM’s […]
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A quarter-century after Boy Meets World ended, 50 Cent is finally meeting the girl. Following his recent show in Las Vegas, the rapper posed with Danielle Fishel — who played Topanga Lawrence on the iconic series — and wrote afterward on Instagram that the actress is going to be “fine” forever. In a photo posted […]
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