“My hand started getting numb and it would stay numb from the moment that I woke up, all the way until soundcheck. It was a little scary”: Adrian Belew reflects on having his left hand repaired – and how his playing is recovering

Adrian Belew has been busy celebrating King Crimson’s golden era with what can only be described as a legendary tour alongside Steve Vai, Tony Levin, and Danny Carey.

However, the tour came with its own health challenges, as the multi-instrumentalist recently had his left hand repaired following a bout of carpal tunnel syndrome mid-tour.

“What was happening was that it would get numb,” he explains in a new interview with Guitar World.

“My hand started getting numb, and during part of the [BEAT] tour, it would stay numb from the moment that I woke up, all the way until sometime during soundcheck. It was a little scary. I’d be like, ‘Oh, boy, you better wake up soon, here hand!’”

It got to a point where Belew feared he might not play again. However, thanks to Vai, he realized that not all hope was lost. “Steve Vai was able to walk me through the process since he’s had it done twice,” he imparts.

“He reassured me that it was a simple operation and that it was not something that was going to go wrong. And on top of that, he introduced me to one of the best surgeons in the United States, who had done this work.”

As for where things stand now, Belew replies with, “Oh, it's perfect.

“This was an easy recovery and an easy operation. No problem at all,” he reassures fans.

“It was on my left hand, and I’m back to full use of my left hand. While recovering, you can’t do much with it, and it’s a little tender. And then, you finally work back up to tempo. Now, I’m playing as I always did, except that there’s no more pain.”

In more recent Adrian Belew news, cult guitar hero Rob Fetters reflected on forming a lifelong friendship with the King Crimson guitarist – and the time they raced home to try tapping after seeing Eddie Van Halen.