Maynard James Keenan had hip replacement surgery, says shows stay on

Maynard James Keenan had a hip replacement on August 26 and says none of his upcoming dates will be cancelled because of it. The singer, who fronts Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, posted an update from a hospital bed setting out the timeline in some detail.

It started abruptly. He wrote that he woke up in Luxembourg on July 3 while touring with A Perfect Circle, and that when he went to do his workout and hike his left hip refused to work. He finished the rest of that tour in pain, using a cane.

What followed was a scramble for a diagnosis. He described frantic phone calls and emails trying to work out whether it was a labrum tear, a sprain or a replacement, and said he needed answers fast because of what was already booked.

The schedule explains the urgency. Between September and Christmas he is due to perform roughly 27 shows in 18 different countries with three different bands, which is a workload that leaves no room for an open ended recovery. Cancelling, he said, was not an option.

He also framed it around the audience rather than himself, noting that people have bought tickets and booked travel and lodging, most of it nonrefundable. Working backward from that, his cut off for the operation was September 1, and the medical team in Los Angeles got him in on August 26.

His first performance back is a Tool headline slot at Louder Than Life on September 20, followed by a Puscifer European and UK run from late October. Other acts have had to make the opposite call this year, with Joan Jett calling off shows while recovering from surgery. The metal dates sit on the tour guide, alongside Louder Than Life's daily running order for September.