RAW article - July 1995

"Rock Saved My Legs!"

No wonder Weezer main geezer Rivers Cuomo wasn't smiling on stage. He'd just had to endure a bizarre, leg-lengthening operation. But if it hadn't been for the band, Rivers would still be limping today…

Yes, it's really true. Weezer's recent UK tour was temporarily postponed when frontman and guitarist Rivers Cuomo was admitted to a private hospital in his home state of Connecticut to undergo surgery to rectify the problem of one of his legs being shorter (or longer, depending on which leg you're talking about!) than the other.

Apparently, the powers-that-be in the United States had decreed since Rivers first had his problem diagnosed as a young boy that the problem was merely cosmetic and, as such, Rivers surgery would not be paid for through his regular health cover.

In a bizarre twist of circumstances, the nerdy front man had to wait until he made enough cash from his Pop Star antics to bring his legs into line and make them the same length. Rock music saved his legs, although they are obviously giving him plenty of trouble during his recovery period.

During the UK tour, Cuomo was still wearing a metal casing on his leg which allows the bone to grow in the correct position after the operation. Of course, despite being on heavy painkillers, the leg is still extremely painful, but being the trooper that he is, Cuomo was determined that the British dates went ahead with minimum disruption.

"There was no way he way he wanted to disappoint all the people who were dying to see Weezer," said a record company spokesman. "It sounds real cliché, but he really was of the opinion that the show must go on...even if the dates were a couple of weeks later than anticipated."