THE EXPLOITED Frontman WATTIE BUCHAN Collapses On Stage During Wiesbaden, Germany Concert

THE EXPLOITED frontman Walter David "Wattie" Buchan collapsed during the first song of the band's set this past Saturday, January 31 at Schlachthof in Wiesbaden, Germany and had to receive medical attention. He was taken to a hospital and was reportedly "responsive", according to information given at the concert venue.

On Sunday (February 1),THE EXPLOITED released the following statement via social media: "As Wattie collapsed yesterday during the show in Wiesbaden/Germany, we have to cancel the upcoming gigs in Tallinn & Riga. We try to find new dates ASAP. Rostock and Berlin we announce as soon as we have more info.

"Wattie is in hospital right now for observation and checkups," the statement added. "He had a flu the last days and gets dehydrated. That's why he collapsed. Thanks and love to all the nice people who took care and immediately gave first aid. We will keep you updated!"

In December 2022, Wattie was rushed to hospital after collapsing on stage due a suspected heart attack during THE EXPLOITED's concert in Colombia.

The now-68-year-old punk legend, who has a history of heart problems, was performing the song "Army Life" with his bandmates at La Estrella Roja Calle 66 when he started feeling unwell, clutching his chest and bending down before dropping to his knees.

In February 2014, Buchan suffered a heart attack on stage in Lisbon, Portugal. Shows in August 2018 and September 2019 also had to be canceled due to Buchan's health problems.

A year after Wattie underwent a quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2014 following an onstage heart attack, the singer told I Probably Hate Your Band: "I thought I wouldn't be able to do gigs anymore, so I'm just glad I can still do gigs." He later told Tattoo.com about his heart procedure, "They cut my leg went right through my tattoo and put it back together," and added: "The most important thing in life is your health. If you don't have your health, you don't have fuck-all."

Back in July 2024, Wattie was asked by Serbia's Agoraphobic News about the possibility of a new studio album from him and his bandmates. He responded: "I've got loads of songs written, but I never do anything unless it's a hundred percent. It's gotta be a hundred percent better than the last one.

"I wanna do an album before I die, or before I pack the band in, so within the next two years I hope to record an album, for sure, for sure," he added.

Founded in 1978 in Edinburgh, THE EXPLOITED's last studio album, "Fuck The System", came out in 2003.

In 2018, Wattie told Metal Underground that a new THE EXPLOITED album was in the works but warned that it might take a while to complete it.

"We told the label six years ago that we had an album almost ready," he stated at the time. "We've got at least sixteen brilliant songs written, I just need to put lyrics to them, but with my health problems I've not been able to do it. We've got a couple of songs written but it's hard to get us together once a week for practice because we all live far away and our guitarist and bassist have jobs. Hopefully with my health being better, we'll try and get something done, but I'll never do anything unless it's a hundred percent. We could go into the studio tomorrow and I could throw out some some lyrics, but it wouldn't be hundred percent and that would be exploiting the punks."