Saxon Drummer Nigel Glockler Rushed To the Hospital

Saxon drummer Nigel Glockler is in the hospital after falling ill on the band's current U.K. tour. The band has postponed the rest of their current U.K. tour dates until next February. Frontman Biff Byford has issued this update:

"Nigel, our friend and brother, is in the hospital in the U.K. having tests to find a bleed on his brain. He is up and talking but he says he has a ball crushing headache. I will pass all your messages on to Gina, Nigel's wife, and we all pray that Nige can pull through this! At the moment all shows have been re scheduled to 3/4/5/6/7 of February 2015."

The band had only a few shows left on their current 'Warriors of the Road' tour celebrating Saxon's 35th anniversary. The setlist included tracks from the band's legendary albums 'Wheels of Steel' (1980), 'Strong Arm of the Law' (1980) and 'Denim and Leather' (1981).

Saxon plan to come to North America next year to play some shows with Armored Saint. Dates announced so far include May 8 in New York, May 9 in Worcester, Mass. and West Hollywood, Calif. on May 30. They'll also be playing the Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio, on May 17.

Saxon's latest album 'Sacrifice' was released last year. They are expected to go into the studio next year to record the follow-up for tentative summer 2015 release.

In an earlier statement about Glockler's condition, Byford said, "All our thoughts are with Nigel and his family,” and we echo those sentiments.