Ian Anderson has released a statement clarifying his diagnosis of COPD, an incurable lung disease that the Jethro Tull frontman first opened up about in an interview with Dan Rather.
“Thanks for your concern but no worries about my diagnosed COPD and asthma,” he writes. “I have had 14 months with no infections and no bronchitis so last year was the first since my twenties when I didn’t get sick at all. The conditions I have are early-stage and I plan to keep them that way.”
Anderson clarified that when he mentioned that his “days are numbered” to Rather, he meant as a singer, not days to live. “After all, I am 73 years old this August! But I should be OK for a few more years if COVID doesn’t get me first.”
In regards to coronavirus, Anderson said he was practicing good hygiene and that safe social distancing is “a way of life” for him. (He told Rolling Stone last month that he has been wearing face masks while traveling for quite some time due to his condition.)
“A mild COPD or asthma are just things to live with for the millions around the world who suffer,” he wrote. “But no impact at all on my daily life as long as I don’t catch a cold or flu virus and suffer the subsequent heavy bronchitis which, for me, historically follows since I was a young man. But on the upside I don’t suffer from Hemorrhoids or erectile disfunction. So, things are looking up, not down. (Puns fully intended).”
