PRETTY MAIDS singer Ronnie Atkins, who is battling stage four cancer, offered an update on his condition during a recent interview with France’s Duke TV. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I just decided to be open about it because my family had cancer. Back in the day when my mother had it — she died from it 33 years ago — it was something you didn’t talk about back then.
“When I was diagnosed with stage four cancer, I just kind of refused to say that… I don’t want this to run my life,” he continued. “I still have things on my bucket list. I still wanna live. I still have a lot to give, a lot of music to sing. And I still wanna be around. And I’m in the same place now. I’m still here after a year and a half, and if you asked me a year and a half ago, I wasn’t so sure. So it’s been up and down. But I decided to be open about it. And I had so much love from the social media — from the fans and stuff like that — so I’m just trying to pay back a little and continue to be open about it.
“I’m not telling people everything. I try not to let it run my life — or at least not ruin my life. The diagnosis hasn’t changed, but I feel good. And as long as I feel good… I’m pretty much living day by day — or month by month, so to speak.”
Atkins previously discussed his cancer battle in an interview this past March with Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com. At the time, he said: “I’m going to need these scans every third month, and every time is very nerve-racking for me and my wife and kids. You never know what you’ll get told, ’cause last time when I had that serious stage four diagnosis when it spread, I didn’t actually feel any pain. You never know what awaits you.
“Dealing with this disease is like a mental thing — it’s there in the subconscious 24/7. But it’s something you’ve gotta learn to live with. I can’t change what it is — it is what it is. So let’s get the best out of it.”
The 56-year-old Atkins was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019 and underwent at least 33 radiation and four chemotherapy treatments in the fall of that year before being declared cancer-free. In October 2020, he announced that his cancer had returned.
In a 2013 interview with Myglobalmind, Atkins joked that the secret to keeping his voice in shape was “twenty cigarettes a day and little drink now and then.”
Formed in early 1982 by Atkins and guitarist Ken Hammer, PRETTY MAIDS‘ third album, 1987’s “Future World”, is still today regarded as a “classic.”
During the ensuing years, PRETTY MAIDS continued to release albums usually followed by European and Japanese tours.
PRETTY MAIDS‘ latest album, “Undress Your Madness”, came out in November 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl.
Earlire this year, Atkins released a solo album, “One Shot”, via Frontiers Music Srl.
