PAUL RODGERS Opens Up About Multiple Strokes And Major Surgery Which Nearly Left Him Unable To Sing

Legendary FREE and BAD COMPANY frontman Paul Rodgers has opened up about a health crisis that almost left him unable to sing.

The 73-year-old singer discussed his medical issues during an interview which aired earlier today (Wednesday, September 27) on "CBS Mornings". Rodgers said that he suffered 11 minor strokes and two major strokes — one in 2016 and another in October 2019 — several years ago, leaving him unable to talk.

"I couldn't do anything, to be honest," Rodgers said. "I couldn't speak. That was the very strange thing. You know, I'd prepare something in my mind and I'd say it, but that isn't what came out and I'd go, 'What the heck did I just say?'"

Rodgers underwent an endarterectomy, a procedure to remove plaque clogging a carotid artery, which posed a considerable risk to his vocal cords.

"They cut the neck, and [the doctor] said that he was very careful because he knew I was a singer and that when you cut the neck, it's very close to the vocal cords," Rodgers explained. "They told me, they were very clear, 'You may not come out of this alive.'"

It took Rodgers six months after the surgery to return to playing the guitar and singing. "Each thing was a step forward," he explained. "Each thing that I did was an achievement … 'Oh, I can do this. I can sing,'"

Paul eventually returned to the studio in Vancouver and began recording his new album, "Midnight Rose", which came out on September 22. The effort marks his first solo LP of new music in nearly 25 years.

The British icon got his Canadian citizenship in 2011, four years after marrying British Columbia fitness expert Cynthia Kereluk, the 1984 Miss Canada title holder best known for the long-running series "Everyday Workout".

Rodgers ranked No. 55 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Rodgers fronted QUEEN between 2004 and 2009. With Rodgers at the mic, QUEEN embarked on two world tours and released an album, "The Cosmos Rocks", in 2008. They amicably parted ways a year later when Rodgers returned to BAD COMPANY.

As vocalist with FREE, BAD COMPANY and THE FIRM in the 1970s and 1980s, Rodgers reportedly sold more than 90 million records.