Peter Frampton said he is relying on lessons learned in Alcoholics Anonymous to continue playing guitar as he navigates his ongoing health battle.
Frampton, who announced in 2019 that he has inclusion body myositis (IBM), a progressive muscle-wasting disease, has continued to perform despite increasing challenges. He recently confirmed tour dates for 2025.
“It’s getting more difficult, I have to admit,” Frampton said last week at the NAMM trade event, according to Guitar Player. The guitarist, who used a walking cane for balance, spoke about the obstacles he faces while playing.
“The worst thing about playing for me is when I’m soloing, I have to actually think about what I’m playing,” he said. “I don’t want to think—I want it just to be coming from my heart. That’s how I always played.
“And now I do have to think a little bit, because I’ll be in the middle of the passage and I’ll say, ‘That finger is not going to get there in time!’ So I do a regroup and I use one finger for many notes that I used to use three fingers for.”
Frampton compared his situation to that of jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, who lost two fingers in a fire in 1928 and adapted his playing technique.
“That’s what I’m doing,” Frampton said. “Because I enjoy music so much. It sounds weird; you’re losing the power to play … but I’m working out—and enjoying working out—a different way of playing.
“People say, ‘Aren’t you depressed?’ You know, you have to accept the things you cannot change. I learned that in AA, and in many other places. … What I have is not life-threatening, thank God, but it’s life-changing, and I’m going with the flow.”
Frampton also revealed he is working on a new album, which he aims to release this year. It will follow his 2021 covers album, Frampton Forgets the Words.
“I keep saying, ‘Oh, that’s the last one; that’s the last one.’ And then, of course, I go, ‘Can we do it again?’” he said. “So we’ll call this one Let’s Do It Again.”