A Killer's Confession and Ex-Mushroomhead vocalist, Waylon Reavis, has been diagnosed with colon cancer, as he revealed during a livestream at Headbangers Con on Sunday.
During the livestream, Waylon, 42, talked about his many struggles with depression and substance abuse, his sobriety, and is showing inimitable strength in the face of one of the worlds worst ailments.
Reavis spoke of his addiction issues, stating he was "Living most of my life on the road stuck in a full bus and miserable, then I would go home and be miserable there too. I was being paid very, very little money, and I could barely feed my family. I just was not happy, so the drugs would help me cope, and all it did was make things worse for myself. I was like a ticking time bomb. When you’re given fame like that, you just hold on for the wrong reasons."
But luckily, the 'Come On' and 'Burn' singer was able to turn things around for himself, and after 4 years of sobriety, and meeting the woman of his life, he had this to say of his experiences; "Well, I met my wife Julie in 2017, and we became very close friends. I wanted a change. I needed to change. I moved to Philly with Julie and just fell in love. She helped me through getting sober. I hid in my house for six months and created my live TV screen show for the stage. I bring the arena to the clubs. I just love my life now. I’m truly happy."
When Waylon addressed his cancer diagnosis, which he received approximately 2 months ago, he was feeling positive, and ready to take it head on.
"My heart crashed," says Reavis, "My father passed away from this at 58-years-old, and my mother passed at 39 from breast cancer. I was just waiting for my time. Luckily they caught it early, and they were able to cut it all out. I have had four removed, but they keep growing fast. I have changed my entire diet, thanks to my wife and taking medications. I may have to battle this the rest of my life, but I am going to live my life happy and fight!"
Waylon has been hard at work on his stage shows, as well as working in the A&R department of the Wake Up! Music Rocks label.
Reeves vehemently declares, "I truly enjoy my life, I love my wife, I love my job, and I love my band! My stepson Morgan is the drummer, and my best friends are my bassist JP, and my guitarist Tommy Church (ex-Mushroomhead). I love traveling the world with them."
We are expecting Reaves to release a cover of A Perfect Circle's "Gravity" some time this week, and A Killer's Confession has a new album in the works due out next year, with the first single "Remember" to be released on January 27th.
“A couple of songs are about my cancer and about my father,” says Waylon, “Those songs mean a lot to me. I cannot wait for everyone to hear them. I’m really excited about this one. Every album I write is different and will never be the same as the others. This one is both heavy and melodic. I took myself back to my roots. It’s what the fans want, so I always like to give them what they have been waiting to hear."
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Written by Steve Knudsen
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