Former NIGHT RANGER Guitarist JEFF WATSON Undergoes Brain Surgery

Former NIGHT RANGER guitarist Jeff Watson is recovering from brain surgery.

The 65-year-old musician, who is a co-founding member of NIGHT RANGER but hasn't played with the group since 2007, opened up about his operation in a social media post earlier today (Friday, September 16).

He wrote: "I've been in ICU for two weeks after having two holes drilled through my skull for access to my brain to put in a drain pipe to remove the blood gathering in my brain cavity 2 weeks ago so I wouldn't die.. And I haven't yet.. so thanks to a very good and cool neurosurgeon y'all are stuck with me for a bit."

Watson went on to say that he underwent "another brain surgery procedure" on Wednesday "to stop an artery from continuing to leak into my cranial cavity."

According to Jeff, his latest surgery was performed at the UCSF hospital in San Francisco, California where he was "hooked up to more machines and given pure oxygen feed and just enough IV sedation to keep me just awake enough to respond to oral commands." He wrote: "Once the catheter actually hit my brain I felt a strange sharp pain so alien that I became extremely frightened, and they assured me it was sometimes expected and to please lie still. I could move my eyes just enough to see the screens to my left as the catheter hit my brain and the vessels, the size of rivers on the screen around my brain, were pulsating with every heartbeat. Eventually, the pain in my brain started slowly subsiding as they slowly removed the catheter and the procedure finally slowly came to an end."

After the latest operation, Watson was discharged from the hospital and is now at home trying to regain his strength. "Need sleep and nutrition," he wrote, "so more info to follow once my synapses start regrouping and my memory fully returns." He added that as a result of the procedures, his "guitar capabilities took a pretty big hit, so it's back to bed with metronome practice, and rebuilding my skill set to try getting my hands back into shape."

Best known for his work with NIGHT RANGER, Watson was also renowned for his patented eight-finger technique. He originally rose to prominence gigging in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, leading his own band before joining NIGHT RANGER in 1981. In the decade to follow, the group scored a series of hits including "(You Can Still) Rock In America" and the perennial "Sister Christian" before disbanding in 1990. Watson resurfaced in 1992 with his solo debut, "Lone Ranger", followed a year later by "Around The Sun". In 1995, he formed a new group, MOTHER'S ARMY, and in 1997 also appeared with the reunited NIGHT RANGER. He remained until his exit in 2007.

Watson reflected on his departure from NIGHT RANGER in a 2015 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock. "It's kind of a sad one and it's not something that I'd like to dwell on, really," he said. "It was almost biblical, how it affected me anyway. But it was a drag. It was unexpected and I really don't want to jump into the details. I think everybody just has to live with the outcome and that's all in the rear-view mirror, as it were. I have nothing but the best wishes for everybody in whatever they pursue in their life, I really do. But that was a great time of my life when things were going well with the band in the '80s. It was really a lot of fun. Even the reunion stuff was a good time for us and we had some great shows together. It was a bit of a shock to have the tables turned, but things happen."