Glass Tiger's Alan Frew making a comeback after a stroke
"That guy, pre-stroke, is gone. You can never be that guy again," says Frew of how the stroke changed him
Staging a musical comeback is always hard work, but for Alan Frew, it feels like a matter of life and death.
The singer of popular 1980s Canadian band Glass Tiger suffered a stroke in August 2015, mere hours after finishing work on his latest album.
"People have asked me during the stroke, at that moment — the big moment — what was going through my mind. Was I afraid and what not. I thought about my family," Frew told CBC News.
"Then, I thought about my album. I just finished this album: this can't be happening. Because it's just who I am, it's what I do. I've been doing it for so long that if I can't do that — and I can't walk and talk properly, sing again — I don't know what I would do," he revealed recently during an interview at his Toronto home, which he shares with his wife Marcy and their son and daughter.
Dark days
Frew said he ignored the first signs that something was wrong. He was tired, but excited after finishing the final session for his album.
"I went to bed that night, and I woke up the next morning and I didn't feel right: something was going on with my leg my arm and my hand, I tried to shake it off. I went golfing."
But after feeling unwell on the golf course, he asked his son to drive him to the hospital. After that, everything was a blur. The next few days, Frew said, were among the darkest of his life.
"I cried for three days straight. It wasn't until the third day when all of a sudden, my toes and my fingers started to move a little bit, and then you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Fighting to perform
Beyond working with rehabilitation therapists to regain movement on the right side of his body, Frew paid extra attention to his facial muscles and voice so he would be able to sing again. More importantly, he wanted to sing in the way his fans expect him to.
"I'm a big singer, I've got a big voice," said Frew, whose rich, booming vocals defined Glass Tiger hits like Someday.
Looking at Frew today, there are few physical signs of his ordeal. The effects of paralysis are not noticeable and he looks lean and fit, the result of daily swimming and biking.
'If I go for that big note, am I gonna have another one? You can't shake that.'- Alan Frew, singer
"I still have the residual effect in my hand and my arm, and a little bit in my leg," he said.
But while rehabilitation has helped strengthen his body, Frew said the stroke profoundly changed him as a person.
"That guy, pre-stroke, is gone. You can never be that guy again, ever," he said, referencing anxiety that's now part of his everyday life.
"If I go for that big note, am I gonna have another one? You can't shake that."
Back onstage
Still, Frew is confident that anxiety will dissipate once he steps out onstage in front of his fans.
His new album is a compilation of the biggest hits of the decade that made him famous. It's Frew's unique take on songs such as Hold Me Now by Thompson Twins, Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds, and Nothing Compares 2 You, the Sinead O'Connor hit written by Prince.
"I'm encouraging everybody to come out and enjoy the '80s," Frew said of his comeback shows, including Toronto's Great Hall on Friday and Saturday.
"It's fun. It's great. I'm gonna belt them out from the top of my lungs and you guys are gonna sing along with me."
The man whose breakout hit was Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone isn't ready to be forgotten anytime soon.