Damn, this sucks…
Country music star Joshua Ray Walker took to social media to share “some good news and some bad news” to his devoted fans earlier today.
The good part of the update is that the Texas native will be releasing a new song tonight at midnight, which is titled “Thank You For Listening,” which he describes as a tribute to all those who have supported him along the way since he broke onto the country music scene in 2019.
Walker said in his post:
“Hey y’all, I’ve got mostly good news and some bad news that I need to share with you. The good news is that I’m releasing a new song tonight at midnight called ‘Thank You For Listening.’ It is basically a love letter to anyone who’s ever supported me in my pursuit of music, even just by lending an ear in passing.
This song is a brand-new original on a collection of performances by the same name. The additional tracks are acoustic renditions of songs I’ve previously released. This project is raw, and intimate, and I’m extremely excited to share it with you early next year!”
And Walker is going to need all that support now more than ever, because the bad news included in the post is that he has recently been diagnosed with cancer.
The “Voices” singer revealed in his statement that he has a localized cancer in his colon, and he’ll be having surgery in the new year to remove it:
“The bad news is that I have been dealing with some health issues this year that have made my quality of life on the road and off pretty brutal lately. Even though my prognosis isn’t what I would have hoped for, it is a huge relief to have some answers and a course of action moving forward.
Basically, my doctors have found a localized cancer in my colon, and I will be undergoing surgery to remove part of my colon on January 3rd. Luckily, we found it early, and it’s likely I’ll make a full recovery without further treatment. This is great news, but I will need to take a few months off after the surgery to recover.”
As he said above, the good news with the bad news is that they believe they’ve caught the localized cancer early enough. With the surgery to remove it, Walker should be okay with a couple of months rest after the procedure.
In the challenging time, the singer/songwriter thought that now was the right time for a song thanking his fans for being able to follow his dreams with country music. Joshua Ray Walker concluded his statement by saying:
“I’ve had the idea for ‘Thank You For Listening’ for a while now, but it has definitely been colored by what’s been happening in my life throughout the process of creating it. What started as a simple “thank you” to my fans, ended up having a much deeper meaning, including my mortality, but this is in no way a goodbye.
I’m going to fight with everything I have, and my odds are great. All I ask is for your patience and healing thoughts during this time.
I can’t believe what I’ve been able to accomplish because of your support. That is what this song is about. I would have written songs and continued to play them to empty bar rooms forever, but because of you I’ve been able to accomplish more than I ever could have dreamed. I still can’t believe that people want to hear my songs. So ‘Thank You For Listening,’ and we’ll get through this together. This song is for you. Love y’all!”
You can view the entire post, which features the official music video for “Thank You For Listening,” below:
