Jason Pierce almost died in July 2005. Hooked up to a ventilator and suffering from double pneumonia, Pierce — aka J Spaceman — shrank to 45 kg and spent two weeks in intensive care in a London hospital. Things looked so bad that his girlfriend was offered grief counseling.
That the 42-year-old came close to meeting his maker might not have been a surprise to followers of Pierce's group Spiritualized, familiar with lyrics such as "The only time I'm drink and drugs free is when I get my drink and drugs for free." What is surprising is that instead of seeking solace in the one thing he has always held most dear, he almost turned his back on it completely.
"I couldn't even make a connection with the thing I like most, which is music," says a revitalized Pierce over the phone from his London home, looking back on that time three summers ago. "I couldn't finish my record. I had no sense of what I was doing or why I was doing it."
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