MIKKEY DEE Reflects On His Battle With Sepsis: 'From The Beginning It Was A Struggle For My Life'

Former MOTÖRHEAD and current SCORPIONS drummer Mikkey Dee is the featured guest on the latest episode of "Metal Sticks", the new podcast hosted by Nicko McBrain, the iconic drummer of IRON MAIDEN for 42 years, recently retired from touring, and Modern Drummer CEO David Frangioni. You can now watch the second part of the chat below.

Speaking about December 2024 near-death experience when he initially developed sepsis after spraining his foot, Mikkey said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I got caught with sepsis, and I was in the hospital for five weeks, struggling, really. From the beginning it was a struggle for my life, basically, I would say. I did not realize that at the time, of course, but the further down the road we went, I realized how serious this was. I had three operations on my right foot and calf. They had to cut open three times and stop the infection that my foot blew up, like an overcooked Christmas ham. It was unbelievable. And my liver and gallbladder was shutting down. I was yellow and I had a tremendous infection in my body. So I was fighting heavy for that. And I had so many doctors involved, from orthopedics to internal into infection. Three different hospitals in Sweden, and the nurses and doctors did an amazing job to keep me alive and not to even amputate my leg, because that was very close, to cut that bad boy off."

Mikkey continued: "It was very tough. And I'm still not recovered. I mean, inside I feel great. I'm bacteria free since many, many months, but the foot in itself kind of hurts in the joints. It's gonna take a long time for the swelling to kind of… I'm sure it's a little bit inflamed. And when I use my foot so much, it hurts a lot. By the end of a set, I have to kind of limp off the stage a little bit because my foot hurts tremendously. With that said, I'm playing a full set, and I feel that I'm reaching the level where I should be. I take the pain and I deal with it. And hopefully eventually this will go away and the swelling will go down a little bit more. And maybe we have to do some adjustments next year to my foot. I don't know."

SCORPIONS performed live for the first time in more than seven months on March 15, 2025 at the 25th edition of the Vive Latino festival at the Estadio GNP Seguros (formerly Foro Sol) in Mexico City, Mexico. The show, which was streamed for free on Amazon Music, marked the band's debut live appearance since Dee's near-death experience. Filling in for Mikkey for several songs at the show was his son Marcus.

"My son Marcus stepped in and did half a SCORPIONS show in Mexico City, because we had to do this one-off show and my foot was not ready for a full show," Mikkey told "Metal Sticks". I could do maybe two or three songs and then the foot was done. And Marcus learned the whole set, came with me to Germany, rehearsed, learned the set, and we flew to Mexico City. And I played six songs and he went up and did seven songs, and I did the two encores. It was brilliant, and it was a hundred thousand people in the audience. And he'd never done shows like this, a 20-year-old guy, boy. And he's an amazing drummer, I know that. He jammed with MOTÖRHEAD when he was seven years old. I have video stuff when he is banging away. I showed Steve Lukather that one time, and he said, 'Man, that guy's got the whack.' So he actually saved my ass there."

In January 2025, SCORPIONS postponed their 2025 Las Vegas residency due to Dee's recovery from his hospitalization. Promoted by Live Nation and Caesars Entertainment, "Scorpions - Coming Home To Las Vegas 60th Anniversary Las Vegas Residency" eventually took place in August.

In January 2025, Mikkey, who was previously a member of MOTÖRHEAD for 23 years, revealed that he was recovering after spending most of the holiday season battling a "very serious blood infection (Sepsis)."

In a post on social media, Dee said he spent three weeks in a hospital in his hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, during which he underwent "several operations." He thanked his doctors and nurses for their "excellent care" and said he was back "home fighting this bastard bacteria" and that his "numbers are all going in the right direction." Dee added he had a lot of "recovery and rehab" ahead and was aiming to be "back on the drum stool" for SCORPIONS' 2025 residency.

Dee offered more details about his health setback in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, saying the medical emergency began with a sprained foot that quickly swelled and became infected.

"It was surgery right away, the first of three," Dee said. "They cut away what was dead and infected and badly infested. It was not a good journey I was on… Another day and I'd be playing drums with [late MOTÖRHEAD frontman] Lemmy in heaven. I can say that."

A Swede of Greek descent, Mikkey has been known for his speed and precision since his mid-1980s stint with KING DIAMOND. After moving to Copenhagen to play with GEISHA in 1985, Dee joined KING DIAMOND, who were looking for additional members to complete their lineup. Dee played on the KING DIAMOND recordings "Fatal Portrait" (1986),"Abigail" (1987) and "Them", and continued to play as a session drummer for the recording sessions of the "Conspiracy" album (1989),after which he was replaced. He joined Don Dokken for his solo album, "Up From The Ashes" (1990),with the music videos for the songs "Stay" and "Mirror Mirror" receiving airplay on MTV's "Headbangers Ball". The band headlined their own tour, as well as opened for JUDAS PRIEST. During this time, Dee also filled in a short time playing for WORLD WAR THREE (WWIII).

Lemmy had been repeatedly asking Mikkey to join MOTÖRHEAD since 1985, and in 1992, when asked once again, Dee accepted the offer, replacing Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. Dee's first gig with the band was on August 30, 1992 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Dee has been a member of the SCORPIONS since 2016, having joined the band in the wake of MOTÖRHEAD's untimely dissolution following Lemmy's death. To date, Dee has only played on one of the band's albums, 2022's "Rock Believer".