Poison Drummer Recorded Heartbreaking Messages for His Children as Cancer Threatened to Take His Tongue

With Rikki Rockett always having a home with Poison, the drummer eventually explored a solo career with his debut studio album, Glitter 4 Your Soul, in 2003. Although loving his life and career, tragedy struck in 2015 when he announced that he had been diagnosed with a form of throat cancer. Thankfully, Rockett underwent treatment for the cancer. And now, years later, he remains cancer-free. Thrilled over the success of the treatment, the musician never forgot that dark time of his life and how he started to record messages for his children. 

At the time, Rockett had no idea if the chemotherapy would work. To make it worse, he had already undergone chemotherapy and radiation before. Trying to get ahead of the cancer, the doctors suggested they might need to remove Rockett’s tongue. With Rockett understanding that could be a possibility, he sought to leave his voice for his children to listen to when they were older. 

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Rockett said, “I was recording pieces of information for my kids so they could watch it, because the next step was to cut my tongue out if they had to. And I wanted them to know what I sounded like and my advice to them growing up, and I wanted them to hear it from me. I wanted them to understand what I was, what I thought I was or would become.”  

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Rikki Rockett Didn’t Believe He Would Make It Without His Tongue

During Rockett’s treatment, the drummer lost a great deal of weight. He admitted to often wondering if his body would survive if it needed a feeding tube. “I would’ve most likely had a feeding tube. I don’t think I would’ve lived much longer. It would’ve added another year or two. Some people do make it. Some people get all of that done and live for a long time.” 

Rockett knew some patients received the feeding tube and continued to enjoy life. But for him, he insisted, “I think a lot of times, with the way it was going with me, I don’t think I would’ve survived, quite honestly.”

Channeling all those feelings and emotions into his memoir, Ghost Notes: My Life in Poison, Rockett was able to look back at that time in life with a fresh lens. And while not the greatest moment of his career, he could do it cancer-free.  

(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)