Bauhaus is one of my all-time favorite bands and I was fortunate to have caught their San Francisco show in August. I hadn't seen them live since 1998 and, once again, they were absolutely phenomenal. Today though, the band's management announced the cancellation of their remaining 2022 American tour dates as frontman Peter Murphy has entered rehab to "attend to his health and well-being." Good for him.
In 2013, Murphy was arrested in Los Angeles for a DUI hit-and-run. He ultimately pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine. He was sentenced to probation, community service, and mandatory Narcotics Anonymous meetings. However, Murphy insisted he had just accepted a plea bargain and that the meth wasn't his:
"The judge saw it was a mess but the DA was more persistent in pursuing the charges," he said at the time. "It was the judge who reduced the charges provided I pleaded guilty to the lesser charges and did some community work. Everyone just assumes that I'm an evil, drug taking, blood-sucking vampire rockstar. The reality is that I am a total teetotaller."
About today's news, Gil Kaufman writes in Billboard:
At press time the spokesperson said no other information was available about Murphy's health.
In August 2019, Murphy, 65, suffered a heart attack that forced the cancellation of a solo residency at New York's Le Poisson Rouge. In a statement at the time he told fans he had made a "full recovery" after experiencing shortness of breath that necessitated treatment for a myocardial infarction.
