The Beautiful Girls frontman Mat McHugh has been forced to cancel the remainder of his current national tour dates. McHugh was admitted to hospital last Friday with suspected spinal injuries and McHugh now writes that the issues are more severe than first assumed.
McHugh has been touring in support of his WAVES solo album, which he recently made available for free download. However, doctors have now informed McHugh that he can no longer perform in his condition and could lose his mobility if he isn’t operated on quickly.
Mat had reportedly been complaining of discomfort for a few days before it became unbearable following a performance in Newcastle. He was taken to hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a massively ruptured disc in his neck and a chipped bone in his back.
McHugh is a keen surfer in addition to being a respected musician and medical staff have told him that both activities have gradually lead to degeneration, which hit a critical point when the disc in his neck ruptured.
“To be honest, I’m pretty shattered on many levels about what has happened but there are two main ones,” said the singer and songwriter in a heartfelt statement released to fans via his official Facebook pag.
“Firstly, I wanted to get out and play the songs from WAVES after the amazing response we’ve had to the album and secondly, after making the album free, touring was how I was going to earn enough money to feed my family and pay rent for the next few months.”
“A few people got in touch after my post last week, offering help and I think I’m going to need it – being an independent musician I haven’t been able to afford private health or other insurance which could cover me for my treatment so I’m going to have to raise what looks to me might be a big sum of money for this – more than making another album haha!”
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McHugh has always been an independent musician, funding both his solo career and The Beautiful Girls himself. The inability to perform live is obviously devastating to his capacity to earn and income so donations are being sought to help McHugh and his family.
With corrective surgery, McHugh is hoping to return to the live stage in 2016. All fans who purchased tickets to an upcoming performance on the WAVES tour will have the price of the ticket automatically refunded.
Meanwhile, fans interested in helping McHugh in this trying time can go to the official WAVES website where they can download the album and pay what they want to donate. Any plans for raising further funds will be available once final surgery dates and costs are determined.
Hi everyone. So I’ve got some pretty bad news. As some of you know I had to cancel last week’s show in Adelaide…
Posted by Mat McHugh & The Beautiful Girls onSunday, October 25, 2015
