Biff Byford: I had a heart attack

Saxon frontman Biff Byford has revealed that he had a heart attack last year.

The singer told Planet Rock that the heart attack was what led to him having to undergo emergency triple bypass surgery last September.

He said: “It was a heart attack, but it wasn't like a Hollywood heart attack, [where] you drop on the floor with your legs up in the air,

“I was biking, I was on my bike – I do a lot of biking and walking. And I was getting a bit breathless. And I went to the doctor. They sent me in to the hospital straight away. One of my arteries was getting blocked. They couldn't get to it easily; it was risky. So they gave me a heart bypass. And so while they were in there, they did all three… I was really ill.”

Saxon were forced to postpone several dates on their 40th anniversary Castles & Eagles tour. Their show at London Eventim Apollo show has been rescheduled for March 28, 2020, and the Manchester O2 Apollo show will now take place March 29, 2020.

Biff recently released his debut solo album, School Of Hard Knocks. He’s joined on the album by Opeth guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, bassist Gus Macricostas and drummer Christian Lundqvist, while special guests include Motorhead ex Phil Campbell, Rhapsody Of Fire’s Alex Holzwart, Voices’ Nick Barker, Dave Kemp from Wayward Sons and his Saxon bandmate Nibbs Carter.

The vocalist will head out on tour across the UK in April for a run of 10 spoken word and music shows.

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Dave Everley has been writing about and occasionally humming along to music since the early 90s. During that time, he has been Deputy Editor on Kerrang! and Classic Rock, Associate Editor on Q magazine and staff writer/tea boy on Raw, not necessarily in that order. He has written for Metal Hammer, Louder, Prog, the Observer, Select, Mojo, the Evening Standard and the totally legendary Ultrakill. He is still waiting for Billy Gibbons to send him a bottle of hot sauce he was promised several years ago.