David Johansen’s household is opening up about his secret well being battle.
The singer of the punk band New York Dolls has Stage 4 most cancers, which has progressed to a mind tumor, and a damaged again, his daughter, Leah Hennessey, revealed in a number of emotional posts by way of her Instagram story on Monday.
Johansen, 75, is the only surviving founding member of the ’70s punk band.
“As some, but not many of you know, David has been in intensive treatment for stage 4 cancer for most of the past decade,” Hennessey’s message started.
She revealed that “five years ago at the beginning of the pandemic,” they found his most cancers had progressed and “he had a brain tumor.”
Johansen’s daughter mentioned, “There have been complications ever since,” including that her father has “never made his diagnosis public.”
Hennessey shared that she and her mother have determined to disclose his well being situation “due to the increasingly severe financial burden our family is facing,” revealing they’re launching a fund-raiser to assist offset his medical payments.
Johansen had a setback months in the past after taking a nasty spill down the steps, his daughter shared.
“To make matters worse, the day after Thanksgiving David fell down the stairs and broke his back in two places,” she wrote. Whereas he underwent surgical procedure, “David has been bedridden and incapacitated.”
“Due to the trauma, David’s illness has progressed exponentially and my mother is caring for him around the clock,” Hennessey defined.
In a press release to Rolling Stone, Johansen mentioned, “We’ve been living with my illness for a long time, still having fun, seeing friends and family, carrying on, but this tumble the day after Thanksgiving really brought us to a whole new level of debilitation. This is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. I’ve never been one to ask for help, but this is an emergency. Thank you.”
The punk rocker’s daughter revealed they partnered with the Candy Aid Musicians Fund. The group supplies monetary assist to these within the music business scuffling with well being points.
“With professional specialized care, we are hopeful that David can regain some mobility and independence,” Hennessey shared.
“David is a legend but he’s also my very real very sick Dad,” she continued.
“I know how dire so many of our situations are right now, and how much fundraising literally everyone is doing but if you love David or any of the magick he’s brought into the world please just take a minute to read this or share it. Thank you guys as always,” Hennessey concluded.
In addition to being the New York Dolls’ frontman, many know Johansen by his alter ego Buster Poindexter and the 1987 single “Hot Hot Hot.”
He additionally performed the Ghost of Christmas Previous within the 1988 movie “Scrooged” alongside Invoice Murray.
