Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan says he won’t retire. A hip injury on tour this summer led to surgery, but the 62-year-old singer plans to keep performing.
“I’m with the Stones on that one,” Keenan said in a Metal Hammer interview, pointing to Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. “[Live performance is] my world – not doing those shows is not an option. Retirement is not a f option. Work the problem, figure out what you’ve gotta do and get back to work.”
The injury struck during a summer tour with A Perfect Circle. “We’d do our walk, find a coffee shop and do two miles there, two miles back or whatever. I woke up one morning and my hip decided not to work. I could not walk, like, ‘What the f*?’ Ice wasn’t working, heat, nothing.”
He had the hip replaced in August. His medical team in Los Angeles set the surgery for Aug. 26. Keenan asked for it to happen before a Sept. 1 cutoff, which gave him time to recover for his fall dates. This was his second hip replacement. The first came in June 2015.
Just 25 days after surgery, he was back on stage. He played Riot Fest in Chicago with Tool on Sept. 19, using a cane. Bad weather cut the set short, starting it late and ending it early.
Tool drummer Danny Carey said in February that the band is at work on a new album, with a tentative 2027 release date. The band also hopes to play at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Next up, Keenan will start a European tour with Puscifer on Oct. 25 at Annexet in Stockholm, Sweden. After that comes a Central and South American tour, where he fronts Puscifer and A Perfect Circle in separate sets at each stop. It starts Nov. 25 at Estadio Fray Nano in Mexico City.
Fans can stay up to date with all his bands by visiting his official website.
