Veteran rocker Doug Aldrich — former guitarist for Whitesnake and Dio, and current member of The Dead Daisies — has been diagnosed with throat cancer. The silver lining is that the cancer is treatable, but he’ll have to miss the Dead Daisies’ upcoming tour dates.
A statement from the Dead Daisies read, “Hi, to all Daisies fans. We have some crappy news we’d like to share… Unfortunately Doug has been diagnosed with a treatable throat cancer and has to undergo surgery this week.”
It continues, “Moving forward, Doug will not be available for the next run and subsequently long-time good friend & band mate from the Whitesnake days, Reb Beach, will be filling in for the upcoming European dates. Please join us in wishing Doug all the best for a speedy recovery. We look forward to having him back on deck really soon. We’ll keep you posted!”
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The 61-year-old Aldrich was a member of Whitesnake from 2003 to 2014, and was briefly in Dio from 2002 to 2003. He returned to tour with Dio in 2005 and 2009. As far back as 1982, he auditioned for KISS, but the job ultimately went to Vinnie Vincent.
Aldrich has been a member of the hard rock supergroup the Dead Daisies since 2016. The band also features singer John Corabi (ex-Mötley Crüe) and drummer Tommy Clufetos (Ozzy Osbourne), among others.
Here’s wishing Doug Aldrich a successful surgery and full recovery. The statement from the Dead Daisies can be seen in the Facebook post below.
