There was a lot of confusion yesterday morning (May 8 ) about Akerfeldt’s condition and the reasoning behind Opeth’s canceled show in Maplewood, Minnesota. Many sites original reported that the frontman had broken his arm in a car accident. Shortly after, though, Opeth confirmed Akerfeldt had merely bumped his head on a tour bus, which resulted in a pretty deep cut.
If for some reason you had any doubt of the events that took place that night, Akerfeldt himself posted a picture via Facebook of the wound (as seen above). He also released his own personal statement, saying:
“Hi guys! I’m writing from beyond the grave. Seriously, I was not in a car crash and I haven’t broken my arm. All that happened is I hit my head in Mastodon’s tour bus as I was getting a new pair of (red) underwear out from my suitcase. Wish the story was more rock and roll, believe me.
Anyways I split my head open down to the skullbone and had to be taken to the emergency. They gave me a bunch of shots in the wound, cleaned me up and stapled my head shut with 8 metal staples. Head is sore and if I smile it feels like the wound is gonna burst open again, but I’ll be on stage by tomorrow again.
I feel extremely disappointed that we couldn’t play at the myth in Minneapolis, but paramedics told me I couldn’t. We will reschedule the show for our next trip to the USA. So all rumors of me being in a car crash are false. I did crash my head into a car though, well…a bus really. Sorry for disappointing our fans in Minneapolis but I hope you understand. See you next time. Best. Mikael”
So there you have it: no car crash or broken arm, just a deep cut on the head while retrieving underwear from Mastodon’s bus (here’s hoping it was a pair of these). We’re just happy to hear that Akerfeldt wasn’t too seriously injured and will be able to continue on with the tour.
