The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins recently opened up about a serious hand injury he sustained in a fight just before a major arena tour. He shared details of the incident and his remarkable recovery in an interview with Metaltalk.
The singer revealed how the injury occurred and the extent of the damage to his playing hand.
“It was my right hand. I had a bad hand injury, got into a bit of a fight just before our big arena tour in 2004 or something like that,” Hawkins said. “Obviously, I was misbehaving in those days, and I got into a situation, and I lost a lot of knuckles there, severed a tendon from one of these fingers, and my hand didn’t move properly.”
Despite the severity of the injury, Hawkins was fortunate to receive expert medical care. The treatment not only restored his hand’s function but actually improved it.
“I had some emergency surgery, a surgeon called James Youngman, who put it all back together, and luckily, he was a cellist, so he knew what he was doing,” he continued. “They said to me, ‘You probably won’t have as much range of movement in your hand after this operation’, and I actually have more.”
The guitarist expressed amazement at his body’s ability to recover from various injuries throughout his career.
“I don’t know what happens to me every time I do something daft, and then I’m The Six Million Dollar Man man or something,” Hawkins said. “I’ve got staples and stuff holding my tendons together, but it works better than the other one, it’s really weird.”
Reflecting on his career longevity, Hawkins acknowledged his good fortune in the music industry.
“I think I’m just lucky. I mean, I’ve had a career in music that’s lasted I don’t know how many years now, and there are millions of people who are more talented than me that don’t get a chance to do what I do,” he said. “So I’m just lucky.”
The hand injury occurred during a particularly turbulent period in Hawkins’ life. It coincided with The Darkness’ meteoric rise to fame and the personal struggles that followed.
The timing of the injury was particularly challenging. It happened when The Darkness were at the height of their commercial success. Louder Sound reported that their debut album Permission to Land had reached number one in the UK and sold around 1.5 million copies in their home country. The band’s flamboyant rock style and Hawkins’ distinctive falsetto vocals had made them one of the biggest acts in British rock at the time.
However, the success came with significant personal costs for the frontman. Wikipedia noted that Hawkins was struggling with alcohol and cocaine abuse during this period. This contributed to the circumstances that led to his hand injury. The “misbehaving” he referenced in the interview was part of a broader pattern of substance abuse that would eventually force him to seek professional help.
The injury and subsequent recovery became symbolic of Hawkins’ broader journey through addiction and rehabilitation. Louder Sound documented that in September 2006, Hawkins completed a three-month stint in rehab and temporarily left The Darkness. His departure marked the end of the band’s initial run of success, though they would eventually reunite in 2011.
The successful surgery that not only restored but improved his hand function proved crucial for Hawkins’ continued career. Wikipedia detailed that after leaving The Darkness, he formed his own project Hot Leg before eventually reuniting with the band. This led to new albums and extensive touring across Europe, Asia, and North America. The enhanced dexterity in his surgically repaired hand has allowed him to continue delivering the intricate guitar work and theatrical performances that define The Darkness’ sound.
