Dokken’s lead singer Don Dokken has revealed in a new interview that Mikkey Dee – of Motörhead and Scorpions fame – became “sick as a dog” after he and his wife contracted COVID-19 while in Australia.
Speaking with Greg Prato of Songfacts, Dokken discussed touring in a post-COVID world, revealing that Rob Beach of Winger and Whitesnake would be temporarily filling in for longtime Dokken guitarist Jon Levin, who chose not to tour over concerns about coronavirus.
“Reb is coming to fill in because Jon can’t go on the road right now — he doesn’t feel comfortable with the COVID because his father is 90 years old and he’s the primary caregiver. He said, ‘Man, if I get COVID and give it to my dad, he’ll die,'” Dokken said.
“I said, ‘I get it, Jon. I respect you and your father.’ So, I got Reb coming in to fill in for these two shows, and I just told Jon, ‘Let’s hope for the best. Let’s hope the COVID thing gets better and they come out with a vaccine. Until then, if you don’t feel comfortable getting on a plane, then don’t.'”
Dokken, who is recovering from neck and spine surgery he had earlier this year, continued, “I talked to Mikkey Dee from the Scorpions the other night, and he and his wife got COVID in Australia.”
“They were in the middle of nowhere and got it. He called me up and he said, ‘I’ll tell you, Don, you don’t want to get it. I was on the floor.’ He lost 35 pounds. He was sick as a dog. He was in a hospital. He was really in bad shape. He said, ‘I don’t know how I got it.’ Because they had social distancing big-time in Australia.”
Dokken continued that, despite the risks, he’s taking his chances – but is being careful to take precautions so to avoid contracting the virus.
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“What are you going to do? My girlfriend makes me put the gloves on, the mask on, the spray — we constantly spray our hands. I try not to wipe my mouth. I’ll go to Home Depot and buy supplies for the house, but mostly I’m just staying home. So, she’s not happy about me going on a plane. I have five or six plane flights in two days, so that’s pretty high chances.”
He continued, “My son is a pilot, and I talked to him — I said, ‘What’s going on with the flying?’ And he said, ‘They’re just going to try and space people out.’ But it’s kind of a joke because he told me all the air in an airplane is just recirculated. They just send it to the scrubbers — to the engine filters — and they send it right back to the cockpit. So, all this ’20 feet away, 10 feet away,’ it’s all kind of bullshit.”
He added, “But I’ve got to go out and work. I want to play.”
Check out ‘Alone Again’ by Dokken:
