INXS founding member Kirk Pengilly revealed this week he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent surgery earlier this year to fight the disease.
In February, Australian-native Pengilly found out he had “very aggressive” prostate cancer just as he was about to go to New Zealand for a 10-day food and wine vacation with his wife, champion surfer Layne Beachley, according to an in-depth interview in the Daily Telegraph. “So the whole time we were in New Zealand, every bottle of wine was my last hurrah, every meal was my last hurrah,” said Pengilly. Added Beachley: “It was an emotional roller coaster and a mental one. I think we were both in denial for the first few days.”
A photo posted by Layne Beachley (@laynebeachley) on Oct 9, 2014 at 5:55am PDT
Doctors told the musician that the cancer would certainly spread to other organs if it wasn’t immediately removed. So, on March 18, Pengilly had a complicated five-hour robotic surgery procedure. The diseased prostate was removed via an incision in his abdomen at St. Vincent’s Private Hospital in Sydney.
In April, Pengilly received the positive news that the cancer was gone and he would not require further surgery or chemotherapy. However, his recovery is ongoing. “It will probably take 12 to 18 months for everything to be absolutely normal again,” he said. He works on rehabilitating his bladder and was prescribed daily Viagra, which he said, “thins the blood and helps the broken nerve endings reconnect.”
The rhythm guitarist/saxophonist/backup vocalist will turn 57 on July 4 and plans to treat himself to a new speedboat in honor of his clean bill of health. “A present to myself,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
Happy happy... pic.twitter.com/B8N9628HxK — Kirk Pengilly (@KirkPengilly) January 6, 2015
Pengilly helped form INXS in Australia in 1977, according to MTV. The Grammy-nominated rock band has sold more than 45 million records worldwide and had huge hits in the ’80s and ’90s with songs such as “What You Need,” “Need You Tonight,” “Devil Inside” and “Suicide Blonde.” Original singer Michael Hutchence died in 1997. Years later, in 2005, the band found a new lead singer, J.D. Fortune, via the American television program “Rock Star: INXS.” In November 2012, the band played its final concert before disbanding.
