Dez Fafara, frontman of both DevilDriver and Coal Chamber, has revealed that he has a tumor in his head. The revelation came during his appearance on the latest episode of Suicide Silence guitarist Chris Garza’s podcast.
The metal veteran has disclosed his medical condition two years after postponing and eventually canceling a Coal Chamber tour in what was described at the time as a near-death medical emergency of a blackout and vertigo. That episode followed previous heart problems stemming from a 2021 battle with COVID that prevented DevilDriver form touring overseas.
In his conversation with Garza, Fafara revealed that doctors found a tumor in his head roughly two years ago. “The vertigo thing really fucking threw me off, dude, ’cause it was a great Saturday afternoon,” began Fafara (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “I’d been running miles and miles on the treadmill every day, and all of a sudden I had vertigo out of nowhere, and that took me out for almost a year. They had to do all sorts of MRIs and all sorts of crazy shit to me to figure out what the fuck was going on.”
He continued, “You don’t wanna say this stuff before you book tours or before you’re doing deals or before you’re going out. But for, I would say, over a year, maybe almost two years now, we’ve been dealing with a situation where they found a tumor in my head. So, they want me back in every six months. It’s gotta actually grow a little bit to be safe to go in [and operate], ’cause it’s very unsafe. If they go to get it now, I could lose speech and a lot of other stuff. So, yeah, it’s the first time I’ve ever said anything about this, by the way. And so I go in every six months. And because I fast and I do intermediate fasting, and right now I’m on a four-day fast. You never feel better than when you’re just drinking juices and stuff.”
Fafara continued, “I feel like I can look through walls. And I think that has kept it not growing. So the last time I went in, it was a couple of months ago, and then [the doctor] said, ‘Hey, look, it’s actually gotten a little, little bit smaller, which we’ve never seen.’ And I said, ‘Well, part of that is probably prayer, a lot of it.’ And also just eating well and fasting, and I don’t do high carb and I don’t do a ton of sugar, and obviously no alcohol. But that’s what I’ve been dealing with.”
The good news is that the tumor is noncancerous, a silver linking that Fafara was overjoyed to learn, even though his condition prevented him from touring for the better part of two years. “I was, like, ‘I’m fucking emotional. Hell yeah, I’m emotional. I got a tumor in my head and it’s not cancerous. Cool. We can beat this fucking thing.’ And next thing we know, a lot of doctor’s appointments and shit, and that’s what put me on hold for a year and a half.”
The metal veteran went on to say he has a positive outlook, noting, “I’m of the mindset, and this will give you a little power into me here, is that I’m gonna make it go away. I’m personally gonna make it go away with dieting, fasting and positive thought. It’s gonna go away. So the next time I go in is February or March, I think. And it’s gonna shrink more. It’s gonna go away. Period, end of story… I came back out the second or third time [I got an MRI done] — I think the third time — and he’s like, ‘This is crazy, but this thing is getting a little bit smaller.’ And I’m, like, ‘Well, have you ever had these go away?’ And he’s, like, ‘No. And I get rid of a lot of these when I can, when it’s okay to operate.’ And I go, ‘Well, this thing’s gonna go away.’ And he’s, like, ‘Uh, okay.’ And I said, ‘You’ll see. This’ll be a new one for your little medical booklet.’ But if you don’t think that way about life… And the crazy thing is when I was going through all this, and in the emergency room and everything else is, that’s when I had parted ways with my longtime [DevilDriver] guitar player, and so I still haven’t spoke to him. And I was going through all this at the time too.”
When Garza asked why he felt comfortable revealing his health condition now, Fafara responded, “I wanted to share that with you because I haven’t shared anything. I think people need to know. And obviously this is gonna go out on the wire and people are gonna go, ‘Fuck, that’s what he’s dealing with.’ But no, I’m not gonna cancel tours. I’m showing up in Australia [this summer]. I’m showing up in August. Nothing’s gonna stop that.”
Fafara said that he was assured the vertigo would not return, explaining, “The vertigo thing won’t come back. The doctor’s, like, ‘With this, you only have that once. Your body won’t allow that to happen,’ which is odd, but true… And that’s another thing — if I never had the vertigo, I would never find out I had the tumor until it was maybe too late.”
DevilDriver just released their 11th album, Strike and Kill, which arrived on July 10th. The band kicks off a US tour on August 14th in San Diego, with tickets to the upcoming shows available here.
Watch Dez Fafara’s appearance on Chris Garza’s podcast below.
