English Pop Music Icon Reveals He’s Had Life-Saving Brain Surgery — ‘I Was Really Quite Ill’

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Operating theater.

A legendary English musician has revealed he underwent life-saving brain surgery that left him unable to walk for some time.

Keyboardist, composer, and songwriter Rick Wakeman is known best for both having a solo career and for his multiple tenures in the progressive rock band Yes.

Yes are known worldwide for major hits like “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” “Roundabout,” and “I’ve Seen All Good People.” Wakeman, meanwhile, released albums like 1974’s “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” and 1975’s “The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.” He also played on David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars?,” Cat Stevens’ “Morning Has Broken,” and on tracks for huge stars like Elton John, Marc Bolan, and Lou Reed.

Wakeman, 77, spoke to Express.co.uk to describe his serious medical ordeal.

Rick Wakeman Had Surgery to Treat Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

In his chat with Express.co.uk, Rick Wakeman revealed he had brain surgery to treat Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (known as NPH) — a condition which causes excess cerebrospinal fluid to build up in the ventricles — and it left him unable to walk or do anything for a year.

Wakeman said, “I was really quite ill. I developed Hydrocephalus and had to have brain surgery. It’s not very pleasant.”

He went on, “They stick things in your head, and I couldn’t walk. I was basically, I was recuperating for a year. The alternative is you die. But I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t do anything, and my brain stopped working.”

Fortunately, Wakeman is now looking fit and healthy and as good as fully recovered from his life-saving surgery. Suffice it to say that the gruelling year-long recovery process was ultimately worth it.

It also allowed him to do something he’d been wanting to do for years.

Wakeman Played to an Audience of 150 Rescued Bears

Rick Wakeman’s NPH diagnosis meant he had to postpone his extraordinary longstanding and ambitious plan to play a concert to an audience of more than 150 rescued bears at Tam Dao National Park in Vietnam. This year, on Thursday, September 24, a recovered Wakeman was able to fulfil that ambition.

The star told Express.co.uk, “It wasn’t any form of stunt. It was something that I wanted to do, but also the aim was to get the bears in bile farms freed. And the government and dignitaries have said there are still 125 bears in cages trapped that need to get out.”

He proudly added, “What we did down there, the dignitaries who were fantastic said: ‘By the end of the year, you’ll be able to get every bear out.'”

It’s such a fantastic cause and an achievement that undoubtedly justifies Wakeman’s pride.

Wakeman is also back composing music. Since recovering from his life-saving surgery, he spent months creating a piece called “Echoes From Black Holes.” He performed it to a rapturous reception on the second night of the Starmus festival in Tenerife, Spain. The event’s co-founder, the iconic Queen guitarist Brian May, sat in the front row to watch Wakeman’s performance and led the standing ovation at its climax.

We wish Wakeman well with his continued recovery and hope he is still composing, performing, and achieving his extraordinary goals for many years to come.

Yes and Rick Wakeman’s filmography info was courtesy of Discogs.