Joshua Ray Walker Announces First Shows Back Amid Cancer Fight
Walker, who has taken an extended break from touring to undergo treatment for colon cancer, has officially announced his return to the stage.
Here's a bit of wonderful news for Joshua Ray Walker fans everywhere!
The beloved singer-songwriter has announced his first official shows since revealing his cancer diagnosis and hiatus from the road to undergo treatment at the beginning of this year. As of right now, fans will have to wait until 2025 to see the "Sexy After Dark" singer live, but it will be worth every moment.
Walker posted on his social media pages that he would be appearing on the Sail Across the Sun cruise the week of February 13th - 17th in 2025, and also the famous Outlaw Country Cruise the week of February 22nd - 28th in 2025.
Walker shared the news of his diagnosis with colon cancer mid-December of last year, but provided the more in depth update below with his fans and followers through his Facebook page on January 29th, 2024.
“Hey y’all, thank you for your patience and incredible support while I heal and get as much info as I can about my health. The good news is that the surgery was successful and my symptoms have been relieved. The bad news is that some of my lymph nodes that were removed during surgery tested positive for cancer cells. That means I need more treatment than we had hoped for post-surgery. So the plan now is that I’ll be undergoing 6 months of chemo treatment for stage 3 colon cancer, starting in the next few weeks.
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There are many reasons to be optimistic. My doctors say that post-surgery there is a 70% chance I wouldn’t have a reoccurrence of cancer, without the chemo. With the chemo, that number goes up to 90%. In cancer terms, that’s pretty great news! We want to be aggressive here and try to hit this hard. That last 10% can be monitored with regular tests and scans. I’m lucky to have access to great doctors, and they have a plan to keep me around for a long time.
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I’ll be receiving chemo treatment every two weeks, for six months. This will unfortunately make touring logistically impossible, not to mention that travel and exposure to large groups of people will be risky due to my compromised immune system. That means that I have to cancel all of my shows for now and keep my calendar cleared through late July. During this time home, I’ll be focusing on my health and staying creative. Hopefully, that means new art to share with you eventually.
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In the meantime, ‘Thank You For Listening’ will be coming out on Valentine’s Day. That seems fitting, seeing how it plays out as a love letter to my fans. I really hope you enjoy it, because I’m very excited to share it with you! Thank you again for your support and your patience during this time. I’ll be updating y’all periodically, love ya!”
The news of these two gigs for early 2025 is a welcome sign for fans, as it hints that Walker’s treatments are working and that his prognosis is moving in the right direction. Although he has no other dates slated for 2024 at the current moment, you can support him musically through this time by grabbing a copy of his brand new album, aptly titled Thank You For Listening. We at The Creek send Walker our best wishes for a fast and full recovery, and will continue to spin his tunes for the world to enjoy.
