Trending News|January 17, 2013 02:51 EST
Rock Star’s Dementia, Dick Wagner Back On Tour
Legendary rock guitarist/songwriter, Dick Wagner is finally back on tour after being diagnosed with a "correctable" form of dementia. He's worked with some of the biggest acts in the industry including Guns & Roses, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith and even Frank Sinatra, later in his career.
He's best known for his Alice Cooper co-write 'Welcome To My Nightmare," in 1975 and helped write most of the bands catalog. In 2010, he and Lou Reed were ranked #25 on Gibson.com's 50 Guitar Solos of All Time for a live cut of Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane."
Unfortunately, with good luck sometimes comes the bad. He suffered a stroke and heart attack in 2007, according to ABC News.
With his strength, coordination and overall health deteriorating, Wagner, was diagnosed with NPH, normal pressure hydrocephalus, in 2011.
NPH is when fluid builds; the brain swells and ends up plugging the neuro-pipeline to the rest of the body. It carries symptoms similar to dementia like dizziness and memory loss.
At Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona the 70 year-old had a shunt surgically installed in his skull to drain the excess fluid and is now rocking Denmark on an international tour.
He chronicles his time "drying in the dessert" in his book, "Not Only Women Bleed," released in December of 2011.
Wagner told ABC News, "I am like a new man almost overnight. For five years, I couldn't even pick up a guitar."