In a heartfelt letter to fans, Art Alexakis, Everclear’s founder, singer-songwriter, and guitarist, shared that he has been diagnoses with multiple sclerosis. Alexakis was involved in a car accident about three years ago that fortunately did not involve any grave injuries from any of the involved parties. However, soon after, Alexakis began feeling numbness and tingling in his arm, which prompted him to pay the doctor a visit. It was then that he received his diagnosis of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).
Pitchfork reports the full details of the letter, which addresses how Alexakis has had the condition since before the accident, for “anywhere between 10 to 20 years” now. Alexakis’s decision to make his condition publicly-known is directed at rumors that falsely claim that he is back to drinking and consuming narcotics as he looks “unsteady” while on stage and in public. To set the record straight, Alexakis is and has been sober for almost 30 years.
Multiple sclerosis or MS is a disease of the nervous system that is suffered when insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This results in nervous system dysfunction that leads to disabilities in communication, muscle weakness, loss of sensation, double vision, blindness, and even psychiatric problems. As Alexakis addresses in his letter, MS “[conjures] up all sorts of images: helplessness, wheel chairs, pain, misery, and worst of all, hopelessness.”
Thankfully, Alexakis is doing the contrary, expressing that he is “still going strong” and has played full tours and numerous shows in the past few years despite his condition. Showing no signs of slowing down, he has his first solo album, Sun Songs, releasing this summer, as well as a solo tour starting May 1.
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