Original KISS Drummer Peter Criss Talks About Cancer Battle
October 5, 2010, 14 years ago
Original KISS drummer Peter Criss spoke to Gus Griesinger from Backstageaxxess.com about the biggest fight of his life in battling breast cancer. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:
Backstageaxxess.com: What's your current regimen that you do to check yourself and keep yourself fit on a daily basis?
Criss: "Yesterday, or the day before, I went for my second checkup, my mammogram. You're in the water for like five years they say. It was great! The hospital staff was so cool. They were all lined up (laughs). I was glowing because it's so great to see it! Even though it's very uncomfortable to go through and I feel for women, it was great for me! What I do, is try to not eat a lot of meat. I never did. I eat a ton of fruit and I take a ton of vitamins. I have done that for the last 40 years of my life and now more than ever, probably! I walk 4 miles a day, every day. Except on the weekend where I may plop on the couch and watch some flicks. I really do stay active and have a studio downstairs which keeps me busy. I have my drums always set up and guitars and stuff. I try to stay as active as I can. That's really the key and I believe in God!"
Backstageaxxess.com: How did cancer affect the ability to continue the things that you love to do, like music? Was there a time where you thought that you weren't going to be able to do those things anymore?
Criss: "Sure! And it scared the hell out of me and now when I play, I play with a lot of enthusiasm! Not that I ever didn't. Even with the new songs I wrote a couple of years back, I'm starting to change the lyrics a little because I feel like my music is .. well.. I wish I could write like the great BEATLES and all, but when I do write, they are usually true stories about my life or the things that have happened to me or others. I've been trying to get my feelings and my spiritualism in a couple of tunes I've written and I'm trying to put it in there. It's just for my feeling good that I've have been through this horrible thing and I've made it. So it's really positive! For me, that's good (laughs)! I'm a complaining sh*thead, so this is a good thing. I've been feeling much more positive about a lot of things. Things that didn't seem important to me do now.
Read the entire interview here.