Scorpions and ex-Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee was recently hospitalised with an infection.
The 61-year-old admits in a new interview with Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that he developed sepsis after spraining his foot in December 2024.
He endured three surgeries for the infection and admits he came close to death, joking he was almost playing drums “in Heaven” with late Motörhead leader Lemmy Kilmister.
“The ankle swelled up like hell, then it took on a weird shape and appearance and looked like an overcooked ham,” he says, as translated into English by Metal Injection.
“I became very ill so I had to go by ambulance to Sahlgrenska and there they found that I had sky-high values, so I became priority one there. It was surgery right away, the first of three. They cut away what was dead and infected and badly infested. It was not a good journey I was on… Another day and I’d be playing drums with Lemmy in Heaven. I can say that.”
Dee offers further detail in a social media post published today (January 2), where he adds that he’s been in hospital for three weeks in his hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden. However, he hopes to return to the stage with Scorpions as planned for a Las Vegas residency beginning next month.
The drummer writes in part: “This holiday season, I have been hospitalized with a very serious blood infection (sepsis). I was admitted for three weeks but now I am home fighting this bastard bacteria.
“Thankfully, I have received fantastic care at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, my hometown. So thanks a million to all the Doctors and Nurses that have been giving me the most excellent care. After several operations, I am now back home and the numbers are all going in the right direction.”
Read Dee’s full statement in the embedded Facebook post below.
Dee was the drummer for Motörhead from 1992 until the band’s end in December 2015, shortly after Lemmy died aged 70. The following year, he joined Scorpions and remains behind the kit for the German hard rockers. Their Vegas residency begins on February 27 and will continue until March 11, with South American and European tour dates set to follow.
In November, Dee was forced to take to social media to refute widely circulated reports of his death. “I am very much alive and kicking, although angry as a MF!” the drummer wrote.
He added: “Spreading rumours that I have died is wrong on so many levels. Let’s keep reporting these bastards and let’s put some pressure on Facebook to deal with this problem.”
Posted by mikkeydeeofficial on
