Fish is good for you

BEATS: FORMER Marillion frontman Fish is hitting the road following a 12-month sabbatical.

The 52-year-old took a break from the world of music after doctors discovered a growth on his vocal chords in 2008.

The cyst turned out to be benign but the health scare gave Fish the jolt he needed to make some serious life changes.

He said: “It was an incredibly stressful time for me. The dread of not only losing my voice permanently but also the possibility of dealing with cancer made me totally re-evaluate my lifestyle.

“I quit smoking, took up hill walking and going to the gym regularly and rediscovered scuba diving with the local East Lothian dive club. I’d gone to Costa Rica in January on a holiday shortly after the second operation and found myself trailing behind guys a lot older than me as we hiked up volcanoes and through rainforests.

“I decided that at 52 I had to get to grips with my life and wake up to the reality that if I wanted to continue doing this then I had to take a different approach.”

Fish recently completed a 96-mile charity hike up the West Highland Way in aid of Cancer Research over seven days with 17 of his fans who joined him. At the end of the walk Fish performed a short set in his local pub with long-term guitarist Frank Usher as a thank-you and it was his first time on stage in nine months. Last month, Fish formed The Fishheads Club with Frank and keyboard player Foss Paterson. Heis now working on a new album.

Catch The Fishheads live at Manchester’s Band on the Wall on Thursday.