Lawson singer recalls how liver failure turned him into a “skeleton”

A close brush with death left him uncertain if he would survive.

Last year, Lawson frontman Andy Brown suffered liver failure and ended up in hospital, where he was put on a waiting list for a liver transplant.

It was the scariest of times for the 28-year-old vocalist of the English pop-rock quartet.

He could not eat or drink and rapidly lost nearly 20kg. His skin also took on a yellowish hue.

Brown and his band mates - drummer Adam Pitts, 24, guitarist Joel Peat and bassist Ryan Fletcher, both 25 - were forced to postpone the recording of their second album in Nashville, Tennessee, for six months until Brown felt better.

He made a full recovery after responding positively to steroids and is well enough to promote the band's newly released self-titled album and go back on tour again.

Brown had a previous health scare when he was 19, when it was discovered that he had a brain tumour. The tumour was removed.

Brown, who was in town with the rest of Lawson last week, two years after their showcase here, recalled last year's dark days: "If you asked me last year, I couldn't say for sure if I'd be here today.

"I'm blessed to have the support of these guys, my family, friends and the doctors who cared for me.

"During that time, I was so thin that I looked like a skeleton. I'm still in the process of piling that weight back on."

It was also harrowing for the band, said Pitts.

"The first time we saw for ourselves how bad it was, Andy had turned a strange colour and wasn't eating before our show in Beirut. This is a guy who loves his food so we knew something wasn't right.

"Still, he got through the gig.

"About a week after that, we were sent a photo of him and he didn't look human. Almost alien-like," he said.

LATEST ALBUM

Later that year, Brown was well enough to head to Nashville to finish their latest album, which was released earlier this month.

The album is a mix of new music, as well as older songs from Chapman Square/Chapter II, a repackaged edition of their 2012 debut album, Chapman Square.

Inspiration from other musicians in Nashville was instrumental in the making of this "hybrid album".

Peat said: "We would walk down Broadway, which is something like the red light district for music in Nashville, and hear musicians of various genres in every single bar.

"The next day in the studio, we would be so pumped working on our own music."

Fletcher said: "We will be embarking on a winter tour in the UK after supporting (English singer) Robbie Williams on his Let Me Entertain You Australian tour this month.

"Hopefully, we'll go to the US so that's exciting."