“I thought it was food poisoning…” Steven Van Zandt sidelined from Bruce Springsteen tour following emergency surgery

Bruce Springsteen electric guitar sideman Steven Van Zandt is in danger of missing the final three dates of the Land of Hopes and Dreams tour after undergoing emergency appendix surgery.

The operation took place in San Sebastián, Spain, after Van Zandt missed the E Street band’s show at the 40,000-capacity Reale Arena the night before.

Van Zandt, 74, says he pulled out of the show having experienced “a sharp pain in my stomach”.

“I thought it was food poisoning,” he says in an Instagram post. “Turned out to be appendicitis.

“I got lucky with an exceptional hospital in San Sebastian,” he continues. “The operation was a complete success, and I’m hoping to get back on stage for at least one of the shows in Milan. Thank you all for all the good vibes. See you soon.”

The final two dates of the tour, at the San Siro stadium, take place on Monday, June 30, and Thursday, July 3, meaning he faces a race against the clock to be fit to return. He will be absent from the band’s penultimate country stop, at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

The guitarist is notable for playing a relic'd 1957 Stratocaster with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, as seen in their 1980 concert film, No Nukes. However, he's revealed that his relationship with Fender started with the Telecaster, which also became Springsteen's preferred axe.

In fact, he only swapped because of his bandleader’s pivot to the Tele, which came after he didn't want the pair being associated with the same six-string.

Van Zandt initially left the E Street Band in 1984, and, looking back on that decision, he says he harbors regrets over missing out on the group's glory days.

“All my life I’ve carried with me this guilt and feeling of jeez, if only I could have stayed in the band and yet done all these other things. Wouldn’t that have been wonderful?” he asks.

However, he accepts that such thoughts are fanciful and that leaving the band at a time when his professional life was at a crossroads would have meant his solo star and acting careers would not have blossomed.

“I don’t know what I would have done. I would have perhaps produced a few things, and who knows where I would have went?” he concedes. “But if I’d continued to dedicate my life to Bruce Springsteen’s vision I would never have realized my potential. I still haven’t, obviously, but I got a few things done and I think they wouldn’t have gotten done if I’d stayed.”

Guitar World wishes Steven Van Zandt a speedy recovery.