UB40 star Earl Falconer hit by meningitis says live life to the full

UB40 star Earl Falconer says he feels “lucky to be here” after bacterial meningitis left him in a coma and needing 17 days in intensive care treatment.

One year on from his near-death experience, bass player Falconer revealed he has had “mad dreams” and battled distorted hearing, but it has left him with a new appreciation of how life is precious.

His impaired hearing has been “brutal” for him as a musician, he explained, but he has now nearly fully recovered and re-joined the band.

For Falconer, 65, who lives in Cannock, Staffordshire, the outcome could have been so different – he was in a coma for two weeks and when he woke up at Walsall Manor Hospital, he thought he was in Mexico City.

He was diagnosed with the condition, which causes inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, in October 2023, after collapsing in the kitchen at home just after a holiday in Ibiza.

After returning to music, Falconer is currently playing in Auckland, New Zealand, on UB40’s latest tour, in its 45th year.

“Just live life every day because life’s really precious and you never know what’s around the corner,” he said.

“It could all go pear-shaped. Luckily, I came out the other end.”

Falconer described how he woke in hospital after he collapsed at home.

He said: “I woke up two weeks later after being on a ventilator and I thought I was in Mexico City. It took me about four or five days to realise I wasn’t actually there.”

He remained in hospital for a month and eventually started walking again and regaining his strength.

Describing how he noticed his changed hearing, he said: “While I was in the hospital, I woke up one morning and my hearing just changed, just on one side.

“I thought it would come back – it’s like when you’re in the plane and there’s the pressure in your ears and everything. I was waiting for that moment, but it never happened.

“It’s brutal because, being a musician, it actually distorts sound and makes things sound different.”

As a bass player, he said he has vivid knowledge of the chords in Red Red Wine, one of UB40’s biggest songs.

“You’ve got six or seven chords in Red Red Wine, and then one of the chords when I’m playing 1728622260, it just sounds wrong, like it’s out of tune,” he says.

But, having nearly fully recovered, he has urged people to get vaccinated and “protect yourself as best you can”.