X's Exene Cervenka Reveals She Has Multiple Sclerosis

Exene Cervenka, co-lead vocalist and original member of famed Los Angeles punk band X, revealed in a statement today that she is suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. "After some months of not feeling 100% healthy, I recently had some medical tests run and the prognosis is that I am suffering from Multiple Sclerosis," Cervenka said. "Apparently, it has been affecting me for quite some time."

(Look back at pioneering punks X, in photos.)

In a sad coincidence, X announced just last month that they were embarking on the "X on TRL" tour with the purpose of raising money for the Sweet Relief fund, a charity founded in 1992 by singer-songwriter Victoria Williams, who was also diagnosed with MS, to aid to uninsured musicians. "Although this is obviously unfortunate news, I am choosing to see the positive in it. I, and X as a band, have supported the Sweet Relief charity since the mid-1990s; the irony of this is not lost on any of us," Cervenka said in the statement. (And for the record, the "TRL" tour has nothing to do with MTV; the set lists are all done by "total request.")

"While this diagnosis will most certainly mean some changes for me, personally, it will not affect my commitments to the current X U.S. tour, nor will it affect my solo album that is slated for release this fall on Bloodshot Records," Cervenka added. "My focus will certainly be on maintaining my health — many people remain strong and continue to live their lives as productively as they had before an MS diagnosis and I plan to be one of those people."

Last month, X singer-bassist John Doe, who was once married to Cervenka, said he was working on songs for a possible new X album, the band's first since 1993's hey Zeus!. In January, Cervenka and Doe were joined onstage by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder during an Obama inauguration party in Seattle.

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• The Department of Confusing Press Releases: X on TRL Tour
• Eddie Vedder Joins John Doe and Exene Cervenka's Knitters to Party for Obama in Seattle

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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