Gary Kemp, the 65 year old Spandau Ballet guitarist, has candidly opened up about his emotional journey through therapy. Speaking to The Times, Gary revealed that he initially felt “fine” during his sessions until the conversation turned to his family.
The loss of his parents, who died within two days of each other in 2009, was among the many things he realised he hadn’t “grieved for properly”. He described how his addiction to the 24-hour news cycle and resulting sleep deprivation due to anxiety pushed him to seek help, despite his concerns about appearing as a “whingeing, self obsessed rock star”.
Acknowledging his “privilege”, Gary said: “I was addicted to the 24-hour news cycle. I wasn’t sleeping and was very anxious. … It was all fine until the therapist said, ‘Tell me a bit about your family,’ and that was it. I couldn’t talk for 10 minutes. I just fell apart.
“My parents, my life … so many things I haven’t grieved for properly. I have a life of complete privilege. I hate the idea of the whingeing, self-obsessed rock star.
“But maybe privilege is part of the problem. The life I’ve had compared with where my brother [Spandau Ballet bandmate Martin Kemp], my parents and I came from is just mind-blowing.”, reports Surrey Live.
Both Gary and Martin Kemp have opened up about their health in recent years
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Similarly, Martin Kemp, Gary’s younger brother and fellow band member, has also been open about his health, recently sharing a grim outlook on his future lifespan.
In a candid episode of the podcast ‘Death, Martin and Roman’, which he co-hosts with his son Roman, Martin was asked about his life expectancy. He responded openly: “I’ll be really honest with you, 10 years. I don’t know how long I’ve got left but I will tell you, since I was the age of 34, when I went through all of that brain tumour scare, I spent two years of my life thinking I was going to die,” Martin added: “And I think, after that, everything else, every day, every year, every month that I’ve lived, every experience that I’ve had has been a bonus.”
After much contemplation, Martin admitted that he had come to terms with his mortality and was content with his life.
He reflected: “I thought: ‘If I go, do you know what? What a life’ and that was back then. So, every year that I live, every month that I’m alive now is like a bonus. I would be happy if I got to 80, that gives me 18 years.”