HELL AMITRI

Rock hero tells of Parkinson's diagnosis, his partner's stroke and mum's death, and how he considered taking his life

- JOHN DINGWALL

ROCKER Justin Currie says he "fantasised" about taking his own life after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's, his mum passed away and his partner suffered a stroke in the space of two months.

The Del Amitri frontman became depressed after the diagnosis in 2024 but didn't have time to mourn his mother's death.

Looking back on a year from hell, Justin, 60, said: "I got my diagnosis, Emma had a stroke less than a month before that, and my mum got diagnosed with cancer a month before that.

"My mum dying was the least of my worries. She was 86. She died peacefully. She was fit as a fiddle.

"I never really grieved my mum dying for a long time because that was almost a positive compared to Emma's stroke, which is devastating.

"Then I got the Parkinson's diagnosis and thought, 'Oh great. I wasn't in great shape." The Kiss This Thing Goodbye singer fantasised about suicide but insists it was never an option.

He said: "I didn't want to do myself in but I did think about it and then I thought about the reasons not to. It's just a kind of fantasy though it's real if that makes sense. It wasn't from depression, though I was depressed. It was from having Parkinson's and not wanting it to get worse.

"I don't have the balls to kill myself. It's something I'm against me doing. I'm sure I could talk myself out of it.