Used Vocalist Bert McCracken Diagnosed With Acute Pancreatitis
(LAUNCH, 06/05/2003 3:00:00PM)

By LAUNCH Radio Networks

(6/5/03, 3 p.m. ET) -- Bert McCracken, frontman for the Used, has been diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, after staggering offstage during a radio station concert in Cincinnati on May 27.

McCracken didn't even get through the first song of the set before he fell to the ground, reported MTV.com. He was then rushed to the hospital and treated for chest pains, nausea and vomiting. Later, doctors discovered that McCracken was suffering from acute pancreatitis (severe inflammation of the pancreas) and according to the band's management, the condition is not life threatening and can be cured.

Management said McCracken "is being treated with prescription drugs and rest. He needs to eat better and take better care of himself." McCracken was released from the hospital and is resting at his family's home.

The singer's health was not 100 percent even before the Cincinnati show. Bandmate Branden Steineckert told MTV.com that McCracken was vomiting a lot and had a serious lack of energy.

The Used were forced to cancel two shows last week due to McCracken's condition, but the band plans to resume the tour on Saturday (June 7).

Vomiting on stage had become somewhat of a trademark for McCracken's live show. However, before being diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, he told LAUNCH that he did not purposefully regurgitate on stage. "I don't [deliberately] puke onstage," McCracken said. "Never have, never will, never. No, I don't puke onstage. There have been times...I mean, when I move around onstage, it's like running a mile and I just get so exhausted, and then when I try to scream there has been times where I vomited all over the stage, but it tears up my vocal chords so much I have to scream and sing the rest of the show with vomit in my throat. I mean, a lot of kids come to the show and go, 'Are you going to vomit?' It's not a gimmick, so if you want to see a gimmick go to the vomit circus, 'cause I'm not going to vomit onstage if it all possible. If you get lucky, you might see me puke. I hate to throw up. Do you like to throw up? I hate it. It's like suffocating. You want to see me throw up right now? I don't know what it is. When I run a mile, I throw up; I bet if I swam, I'd throw up. I mean, if I scream my guts out and run around the stage, I throw up. But I try to not to. I can tell when my body has had too much, and I can kind of take a few deep breaths and keep it down."