Veteran calypsonian David Rudder has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and has said his upcoming show, Rudder 7.0, will be his last major show.
Speaking to media at Kafe Blue, Wrightson Road, Rudder said he would continue to perform, but not on a large scale.
"This show will be my last marathon show.
"Wayne, I can't do four hours standing up on a stage again. To my fans I will say, don’t cry, I will still be around making music, this is just something that happens in life.
"I’ll continue to perform, but I will slow down when I feel I have to. The energy is still there.”
He recently lost two close friends, long-time drummer Barry Howard and musical director, writing partner and friend Wayne Bruno.
"Wayne, Barry, this one is for you. People of Trinidad and Tobago, this one is for you."
Rudder said in 2020, after his brother died, he felt something heavy in the air, which turned out to be the covid19 pandemic. He said he decided to check on himself, as he still felt something was wrong.
“So there am I struggling with, how do I handle a situation like this? There was something I couldn’t put my finger on, something extra. I’m trying to do music to make people feel better, and I decided to be selfish for a little while and check on myself.
"This is where the essence of what this concert is about came into play, where I realised why I had to do what I had to do. Do I want to face these answers?
“The first thing I did was do some tests, and I have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
"With that, I said, this concert may not be my last, I’ll keep playing, doing shows, but no more marathon four-hour shows.
"It brought me into a kind of space where I had to focus on me for the first time. I feel like I have to slow down, though the energy is still there for now. I have to take it easy and one step at a time, that’s one of the ways you are affected by this disease.”
Rudder said he would still be around and would share as much as he could until he felt he had to pull back.
“I have started writing my autobiography. I’m going back into my paintings. I want to get into copper work. I’ll be training young people and some other things, but that’s in the future. I want to go out and visit schools, though I know the disease can affect the way you talk, which might be a problem.”
Rudder said the support from his family since his diagnosis had been tremendous.
“They remind me when to take my medication and how much, that I need to get up and walk, all of these things.”
He said he was working on a song, The Rising, which he was preparing for Carnival 2023 but was unable to complete as the co-producer became unavailable.
“Just before we finished the song, the co-producer had to go see about his family and it never came out. I was like, 'This is the perfect song for Carnival. Why these things happen? and I said wait, everything in my life always has a reason, so maybe it wasn’t ready yet.
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