Bruce Foxton performing live with From the Jam at the Glasgow Carling Academy, 2007 (Credit: Brendan Murphy - creative commons)
The Jam bassist, 70, says investigations following cancer treatment uncovered the condition, as he vows to keep playing live “for as long as I’m able”
By Jason Barnard
Bruce Foxton, the bassist whose lines drove The Jam through ‘Going Underground,’ ‘Town Called Malice’ and a run of four UK No 1 singles, has revealed he is living with Parkinson’s disease.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday, Foxton, 70, thanked fans for their messages of support after pulling out of shows with his touring band the previous weekend, including a date at the Drill in Lincoln. He said extreme heat combined with a chest infection had “knocked me for six,” and that doctors had told him to rest and take medication rather than perform.
He also moved to knock down reports that he had been hospitalised. “I’m not sure where the rumour about being in hospital started,” he wrote, saying he had recovered at home instead and was now “feeling a lot better.”
The cancelled dates reignited speculation about Foxton’s health that has followed him on and off for several years. In his statement he addressed that speculation directly, confirming for the first time the cause behind it: a Parkinson’s diagnosis that emerged from investigations into complications caused by his cancer treatment.
“It’s no secret that I’ve undergone treatment for cancer and am still having scans on a regular basis to keep an eye on that,” he wrote. “However, what you don’t know is that the cancer treatment in itself caused some significant issues for me and investigations into all of that uncovered the fact that I’m now facing a future living with Parkinson’s Disease.”
Foxton first spoke publicly about his cancer treatment in 2023, telling Guitar World he had experienced a “scare with a lymph node being cancerous” and was undergoing immunotherapy. He continued touring through it, performing with From The Jam, the band he had formed in 2007 with the late drummer Rick Buckler and singer Russell Hastings, until January 2025, when he announced that the closing dates of that year’s Setting Sons anniversary tour, running to that May, would be his last with the group.
Foxton said it had been “hard to accept” that touring with From The Jam was no longer possible, but that being formally diagnosed and finding the right medication had given him “another chance” to keep performing. Since the start of this year he has toured with a new line-up billed as his all-star band: the Big Country drummer Mark Brzezicki, guitarist and vocalist Craig Joiner of Romeo’s Daughter, and keyboard player Andy Fairclough of Secret Affair, working through Jam and Stiff Little Fingers material at venues including Cadogan Hall and the Cavern Club.
“As anyone coping with this diagnosis will know it’s a huge shock,” he wrote, “and it’s taking a long time to let that sink in and for me to accept that my body and mind are dealing with something completely out of my control.”
He said the response from audiences this year had been “second to none” and pledged to carry on. “With your help I’m going to keep going and playing live for as long as I’m able to do it,” he wrote. “It’s good for me, my future health and hopefully good for all of you who still enjoy coming along to join with me, Mark, Craig, and Andy.”
Foxton’s recent years have brought repeated setbacks. He stepped away from From The Jam for a period in August 2024 following an unspecified hospital procedure, and has previously spoken about tinnitus and cataract surgery affecting his ability to perform live. Buckler, his bandmate in both The Jam and From The Jam, died in February 2025.
Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition affecting movement, with symptoms including tremor, stiffness and slowness. There is no cure, though medication can manage symptoms. Around 166,000 people live with the condition in the UK, according to Parkinson’s UK, which says someone is diagnosed with it every 20 minutes.
