A drummer for a Korn tribute band is undoubtedly a hero in the world of music, having powered through a recent live performance despite suffering a stroke midway through.
If you’ve ever seen a band perform live, you’d certainly be aware at the amount of things can go wrong before or during the set. Sometimes, a musician can fall ill, other times we can see pyrotechnic mishaps, or we can even see the cops shut down a gig.
However, very rarely do we witness a life-threatening injury force the cancellation of a show, like what happened in England last month.
As the Manchester Evening News reports, Korn Again – a Korn tribute band – were a few songs into their set at the Rockstock tribute act festival last month when their drummer suddenly fell seriously ill.
28-year-old Alex Headen was performing a cover of Korn’s 1994 track ‘Helmet In The Bush’ when suddenly he felt a pain in his shoulder. Before long, Headen’s left side had gone numb, and the sight was gone in his left eye.
Check out Korn Again performing at Rockstock:
While most musicians might pick this moment to put their hand up and question recent developments, Haden instead decided to power through the track, hitting the skins with his right arm only.
“I didn’t want to stop the song because it was so early in the set. I didn’t want to let the band or crowd down,” the drummer explained. “Never in a million years did I think I was having a stroke. I just thought I had low blood sugar or was dehydrated.
“I started the show fine but by the fourth song my vision started to go blurry, then my left arm went numb and I dropped my drum stick.
“I carried on playing with just my right arm but then I completely lost my vision in my left eye. The song finished and I collapsed on my drum kit.”
“It’s amazing that he carried on throughout the whole song,” added vocalist Stephen Emerson. “What a trooper.
“It must have been painful yet he carried on. You never want to stop a song midway.”
While Alex Headen is on the road to recovery, he’s handed his sticks over to a replacement percussionist who will help Korn Again perform their previously-planned touring duties for the foreseeable future.
In related news, the real Korn recently announced the release of their first new album in three years. Titled The Nothing, the band also shared the record’s first single, ‘You’ll Never Find Me’ ahead of the album’s September release date.
Check out ‘You’ll Never Find Me’ by Korn:
