Rocker back on stage after battling cancer and brain lesion

PAISLEY’S rock star Davey Pattison is making an amazing comeback on stage after a “nightmare” year that saw him beat prostate cancer and then spend more than four months in hospital with a lesion on his brain.

And Davey admits that when he was at his lowest ebb lying in a hospital bed unable to hold a conversation with anyone, he thought he was going to die.

But the singer has fought back to recover from his life-threatening health problems and is performing with his band at Ivory Blacks, in Glasgow, on Friday, June 13.

The lead vocalist was plucked from obscurity in the late 1970s after being invited to join legendary American guitarist Ronnie Montrose’s newly-formed rock band, Gamma and spent the next 40 years living in California.

Davey also went on to become the lead singer with the Robin Trower Band, recording solo albums and doing countless studio sessions making TV adverts for the likes of the Mattel toy company, Coca Cola and Taco Bell.

After returning to Scotland several years ago to live in Paisley, he formed The Davey Pattison Band and gigged all over the country. That was until early in 2024 when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer

Davey successfully battled the cancer after going through 20 radiotherapy sessions at The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, in Glasgow.

Davey revealed he took a lot of comfort and positivity from the doctor who first saw him at The Beatson when she said: “We’re going to fix this. We’ll get rid of the cancer.”

And after being told he no longer had prostate cancer, Davey thought he would quickly get back on stage and start gigging again – even after a bout of Covid that made him unwell.

But these hopes were dashed when one day Davey was on the phone to a friend and suddenly started talking what he describes as “gibberish”, became confused and couldn’t see properly in both eyes.

He was immediately admitted to Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital where at first doctors suspected he had suffered a stroke. But an MRI scan showed this wasn’t the problem.

After several weeks of tests at the hospital, there was still no diagnosis and he was transferred to the neurosurgical unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, in Glasgow. And after several weeks there, further scans showed he had suffered a lesion on his brain.

Davey explains: “At first I thought this must be a cancerous brain tumour caused by the radiation therapy I had for prostate cancer. But I’m told that although all brain tumours are a type of lesion, not all lesions are brain tumours and the damage to my brain had been caused by a temporary lack of blood flow to that area.

“It seemed to me that I was in hospital for an eternity and not knowing what was causing my symptoms really scared me. It frightened me more than being told I had cancer. At one ploint it crossed my mind that I was going to die.”

As the weeks in hospital turned into months, Davey’s speech and general health began to improve and a breakthriough came when an MRI scan showed the lesion had shrunk.

Weeks later another scan showed the lesion had shrunk even more and finally, in February a scan revealed the lesion had completely disappeared and he was allowed home.

As Davey became stronger, one of the first things he did was book a rehearsal room to run through a set of songs with his band – Jim Keilt and Euan Maxwell, on guitar; Alan McAuley, on bass; Mikey Grant on keyboards and James Nevans on drums.

 Davey said: “Although the first rehearsal tired me out, by the time I had gone through another couple of sessions with the band, it was as if I’d never been away.

“Now, I can’t wait to get back on stage at Ivory Blacks. After everything I’ve been through I’m raring to go and it will be a special night for me.”

Davey also paid tribute to the care he received in both hospitals. “I’ve had a nightmare year health-wise, but if I’ve learned anything from all the time I spent in hospital it’s that we are so lucky to have the NHS,” he said.

“I cannot priase the doctors, nurses and other staff enough – they are very special people. They are different class and I won’t have a bad word said about the NHS.”

Get your tickets for the Davey Pattison Band gig – with support act the Lynsey Dolan Band – at Ivory Blacks, on Oswald Street, Glasgow from Tickets Sctoland at www.tickets-scotland.com.