McQueen St Welsh in ICU after fall

McQueen Street frontman Derek Welsh is in a coma after injuring his head in a fall on a tennis court.

Welsh fell and hit his head and is being cared for in the Intensive Care Unit at the University of Tennessee Medical Centre, according to his friend and former bandmate Richard Hatcher.

Hatcher says: “It’s not a good day for any of our friends and fans. He is not doing very good at all. Anyone that knows us, we were all like family at one time. I joined the band in 1989 as Klass and then we changed it to McQueen Street. We toured together for five years.

“Derek and I then started the Rat Race. I loved every minute of playing music with him. We parted ways in not so good terms, but I still consider him as a true friend. I wish I could have changed things but that is the past. Now he and his family need our prayers. He is in the ICU unit in UT Knoxville, Tennessee.”

McQueen street released their debut album in 1992 but were swept aside by the rising grunge movement at the time.

Welsh was playing tennis with Devin Johnson, owner of Alabama-based B&D Custom Guitars, when the accident happened. Johnson says: “He has massive swelling to the brain and is currently in a medically induced coma. This is a very bad situation for him and friends and family.

“He’s achieved a lot musically in his lifetime. I’m only hoping he will recover so he can rock us as only Derek could do.”

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.