Travis Barker: Cancer scare was a 'game changer'

Travis

Travis

© Adam Gasson

Travis Barker has admitted that he has changed his lifestyle since his recent cancer scare.

In this month's Rhythm, the Blink-182 drummer tells us: "I went to the doctor and found that I had eight ulcers in my stomach and then I found that I had a condition from it, from excessive smoking and possibly eating acidic food, but I don't really eat acidic food, so it was probably just from smoking.

"I had pre-cancerous cells in my throat, right there that was a game changer. I quit everything immediately. It's made a difference. I feel 100% where as before I'd think, 'I feel good but last night I went hard.' It's a lot more consistent like this, you don't really have good and bad days, you don't wake up blaming something on a hangover or you did this too much or that too much.

And Travis admitted that he feels lucky to have been given the wake-up call.

"Some people don't get that wake-up call, they just go straight to the bad news, so it's a second chance."

For more from Travis pick up the September issue of Rhythm.

Rich Chamberlain

Rich is a teacher, one time Rhythm staff writer and experienced freelance journalist who has interviewed countless revered musicians, engineers, producers and stars for the our world-leading music making portfolio, including such titles as Rhythm, Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, and MusicRadar. His victims include such luminaries as Ice T, Mark Guilani and Jamie Oliver (the drumming one).