SAXON's BIFF BYFORD Undergoes Successful Hernia Operation

Vocalist Biff Byford of British heavy metal legends SAXON underwent a successful hernia operation on Friday, November 29 at Duchy Hospital, a private hospital in Harrogate, United Kingdom.

Earlier today (Saturday, November 30),Biff took to his social media to write: "Hi. Had an hernia operation yesterday. Big thanks to the team at Duchy Harrogate. I've had this thing for years. Getting it sorted before the tour.

"Uk Ireland shows just went on sale. They sold out last time so get your tickets early they're selling quick.

"Keep the faith and have a good Christmas".

Earlier this year, Duchy Hospital was recognized at the highest level by The independent regulator for the Care and Quality Commission (CQC). The U.K. national healthcare watchdog described the 27-bedroom hospital in Harrogate, which is part of the Circle Health Group, as Good in all five domains with safe, effective and well-led services.

This past August, Biff underwent a "procedure" to treat atrial flutter, a type of heart rhythm abnormality, or arrhythmia, that causes the heart's upper chambers (atria) to beat too quickly. The operation was performed by Dr. Jane Caldwell, a consultant cardiologist at Spire Hull And East Riding Hospital, a private hospital in Hull, East Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Back in December 2021, Biff told Full In Bloom in an interview that he had made modest dietary changes in the two years after he suffered a heart attack and underwent an emergency triple bypass surgery. "A little bit," he said. "I don't eat dairy anymore. I suppose I'll eat an occasional piece of cheese, but I don't eat dairy anymore because of the cholesterol level thing. But pretty much [everything] else, I haven't really changed. We'll have a veggie week some weeks where my wife will just put vegetarian food all week, which is a bit of a change, really, and it gets rid of toxic things in your body. But I haven't really changed that much, to tell you the truth."

The now-73-year-old singer went on to say that he has added 16:8 intermittent fasting to his lifestyle, a type of dieting where people fast during a portion of the week and then eat on the other days. The 16:8 type of intermittent fasting involves eating only during a specific right-hour period each day.

"I will do that," Biff said. "I mean, I did do that today, actually. I didn't have lunch until 2 o'clock and I'll eat dinner at 7:30 and then I try not to have anything else until the next day. So most of your fasting is done while you're asleep; that's how it's supposed to work. What you try and do is eat all your meals in the eight hours. Don't go stupid. And then if you go to bed at, say, 11 o'clock and get up at eight or seven, then you had nearly eight hours in bed. A lot of people do it. It's quite positive. I think it's a bit easier than some diets.

"If you don't eat until the morning until quite late, you definitely feel a hit of energy," he explained. "And you're also quite hungry, so you appreciate the food [that you are eating]. Keeping to it is difficult sometimes, obviously. You want a glass of wine or you want a beer or something; you're always being tempted with these things."

According to Biff, he still drinks alcohol occasionally. "Oh, yeah," he said. "A couple of glasses of wine some nights, it's no problem. As long as you're not drinking two bottles of wine, it's fine."

More than four years ago, Byford described his heart attack to Planet Rock, saying "it wasn't like a Hollywood heart attack, [where] you drop on the floor with your legs up in the air. I was biking, I was on my bike — I do a lot of biking and walking. And I was getting a bit breathless. And I went to the doctor. They sent me in to the hospital straight away. One of my arteries was getting blocked. They couldn't get to it easily; it was risky. So they gave me a heart bypass. And so while they were in there, they did all three… So, yeah, they did all three. And then I came to, and that was it. I was really ill."

A heart bypass surgery, or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, is used to improve blood flow to the heart. A surgeon uses blood vessels taken from another area of the body to bypass the damaged arteries.

The term triple bypass refers to the number of coronary arteries bypassed in the procedure. In other words, a triple bypass means three coronary arteries are bypassed.

SAXON recently announced the extensive "Hell, Fire And Steel" 2025 European tour. The trek will see the band perform its classic album "Wheels Of Steel" in its entirety on what will be its 45th anniversary, plus all the hits, fan favorites and songs from SAXON's latest album, "Hell, Fire And Damnation".