Zombies and Argent founder Rod Argent has suffered a stroke.
He recently returned home from a Zombies U.K. tour and spent a weekend in London with his wife Cathy, celebrating his 79th birthday and their 52nd wedding anniversary, before the stroke occurred. He was hospitalized overnight and released the next day. Doctors have advised that Rod will need several months of rest and recuperation.
His management says, "Rod has asked us to convey that he has made the very difficult decision to immediately retire from touring in order to protect his health. He was already preparing to wind down his live performance schedule after health scares on recent tours. However, the stroke was an unmistakable warning sign that the risks are too great. Rod still firmly intends to continue his other creative joy of writing and recording with The Zombies, and has already been back at his piano for some much-needed “Bach therapy”.
All upcoming performances by The Zombies will be canceled. However, their second annual Begin Here Festival in St. Albans, England -- November 8th to the 10th -- will proceed. Management hopes to replace the scheduled Zombies performance at the festival with a special show honoring Argent.
The Zombies were planning to tour the U.S. in the fall, which was intended to be Argent's final overseas tour.
Argent retired from touring once before, in 1975, after spending his late teens and 20s on the road with both The Zombies and his band Argent, in order to focus on his family, along with songwriting and production. He came out of retirement in 1999.
In other Zombies news, The True Story of the Fake Zombies, an eight-episode true-crime podcast detailing the 1969 story of an imposter version of the band, is out now on iHeartRadio's streaming platform.
The official Zombies documentary, Hung Up on a Dream, will be out later this year.