Dan Baird Cancels Tours Over Leukemia Battle

Former Georgia Satellites frontman Dan Baird has canceled tour dates with his current bands Dan Baird & Homemad Sin and the Yayhoos while he seeks medical attention for an inherited form of leukemia.

Baird was sent to the hospital after an appearance at the Ramblin’ Man Fair in the U.K. over the weekend, and he’s preparing to be transported home to the U.S. to continue treatment. He’s called on fans to avoid expressing sorrow for him, and he vowed to fight hard to reclaim his health.

“I gotta take a leave of absence for the rest of the year," Baird wrote on Facebook. "It’s a medical thing, CLL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Knew I had it and it was coming, but I thought it was a couple of years off. Not so.”

He described the illness as an “older folks’ blood condition that wants to eat up your body and red blood cells” and added that it’s “inherited, treatable, but debilitating in the short term when it picks up a head of steam, like now.” “Dern tootin’ I’m a gonna give it a fight," he wrote. "I got a good piece of stubborn in me, might as well put it to a decent use. Skip the ... crying emoji, please. It makes me feel like a death sentence. It ain’t. One of the most addressable blood disorders.”

Baird later gave an update, writing, “Clues that I'm on the upswing already. 1- I've been moved to a private room and the ward hasn't got a lot of staff buzzing around. Oh, they're here, but not flying around like my ward the first 36 hours. Kinda like I'm being being moved to the back of the freezer. ‘Ah, he'll keep.’ 2- I’m ordering tomorrow’s food options this morning. Thanks for all the well wishes. My ‘like’ finger needs a splint now.”

Dan Baird & Homemade Sin released their latest album, Rollercoaster, in March. Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme recently revealed that he paid tribute to the Georgia Satellite on his band's upcoming album, Villains.

He told Rolling Stone that the song “Un-Reborn Again” included a reference to the Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.” “That’s such a great song and I loved that video as a kid, with them in on a flatbed truck," he said. "Although they're from the South, they reminded me of being from the desert, like wearing jean shorts or a swimsuit, and that it seemed innocent.”

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