It was early December, and the country singer-songwriter supernova was flying to Los Angeles to perform his cover of Lizzo’s “Cuz I Love You” on Jimmy Kimmel Live. This opportunity was an exclamation point on a stellar year for Walker, who embarked on a nationwide tour with The Killers and released an all-female pop covers album, What Is It Even?
On his way to the car, his doctor called, informing him that he had Stage III colon cancer. The diagnosis was a shock, but it came after a year of repeated health issues for Walker.
“We knew that something had been going on,” he says. “I had been feeling really rundown for most of the year.”
Just over a year ago, Walker was unexpectedly diagnosed with anemia. In September, just after his tour with The Killers, Walker came down with appendicitis.
He initially made light of the situation, releasing a seven-song live album called I Opened For The Killers And All I Got Was Appendicitis. Before the surgery for his appendix, Walker underwent a CT scan which revealed an unusual mass in his colon. After a colonoscopy in November, doctors confirmed the worst.
“It was surreal,” he says. “I had no time to process it. My whole management team, my publicist, my band, everybody’s out there and I’m the only one who knows that I have cancer and we’re going to play Jimmy Kimmel the next day.”
Upon arriving in LA, Walker broke the news to Billy Bones, his bassist.
“I felt like it was weird if I didn’t tell somebody,” he says. “I told him, and then it kind of just slowly trickled out throughout the day.”
The news was out to the people close to him, but what now? Walker wasn’t home, he couldn’t receive any more news or treatment until he returned, and he was set to play on national TV in a few hours. The show had to go on.
“Looking back, I'm super proud of it,” he says. “We nailed that performance, considering the circumstances.”
When he returned home, the reality set in. On Dec. 14, only 12 days after the Jimmy Kimmel performance aired, he announced the news to his fans via Instagram.
“I just didn't feel like being secretive about it,” he says. “I felt like it was safe for me to let them in on what I'm dealing with. That's kind of the relationship that we've built together.”
Walker went in for surgery to remove the cancerous parts of his colon on Jan. 3.
“It was localized in three lymph nodes,” he says. “They made a six-inch incision in my abdominal wall so I had this giant hole in my stomach that had to heal back up. That was a pretty brutal recovery. They were removed, so that part of the cancer is out of my body.”
There was good news. Doctors found the cancer early and were able to remove it quickly. But there was potential for bad news: Walker could have trace amounts of cancer elsewhere. As a precaution, Walker has begun chemotherapy to ensure that the disease hasn't spread.
“We're being pretty aggressive with the chemo treatment because you kind of get one shot to clean it out,” he says.
Walker will undergo chemotherapy every two weeks for the next six months. Just two treatments in, he’s already struggling with the side effects.
@joshuaraywalker We had a blast & ripped it up on Kimmel last night- really appreciate y’all tuning in for the show
♬ original sound - joshuaraywalker
“For the first few days, it felt like I had Icy Hot on my hands and feet,” he says. “If I drank anything cold, it burned my throat because it causes neuropathy. I had a sensitivity to light. I was just very tired. Waves of nausea, headaches. You know, you're kind of just poisoning yourself.”
After the scheduled chemo is completed, Walker will continue to have regular checkups for the next three years. Until then, he’s had to clear his calendar and spend his days at home resting.
“I'm pretty optimistic,” he says. “I feel determined to use this time wisely. This is the most time I've been home as an adult that wasn't a pandemic. I'm gonna try to write some songs and music and work on other creative endeavors.”
After a year of touring and recording, such an abrupt stop seemed impossible for Walker. He needed to devote the majority of his time to recovering, but he couldn’t truly stay put.
“I was trying to figure out how to just show everybody that I am OK,” he says. “And it's for me, like, I want to do something that I'm good at. This time is very difficult. There's a lot of self-doubt. I want to do something I'm good at. So you know, it's partially selfish.”
Country Strong
This show would have to be different. Walker’s immune system was down, meaning he couldn’t interact face-to-face with anyone in the audience. No shaking hands, no taking photos, just music. Even singing would be a battle. His abdominal muscles were damaged after the surgery, so belting the chorus of songs like “Sexy After Dark” seemed unrealistic.“I was told it might not be a good idea to play a show,” Walker says. “You can't tell me what to do. I'm gonna play a show. When I first booked it, I was like, even if I can barely sing at the shows, I know the people who bought tickets to be there would be there even if I just sat up there and told stories and visited with them and I tried to sing a few songs.”
Dallas showed up. A Night of Songs and Stories with Joshua Ray Walker at the Kessler Theater sold out in one day.
“The response on social media has been crazy,” he says. “That's the fastest I've ever sold out a hometown show.”
There’s nothing but a chair and a microphone on stage at the Kessler. At around 8:15 p.m., the lights go out as BigXThaPlug’s “Texas” starts to blast. Like a WWE wrestler, Walker enters from backstage and cups his hands to his ears as the crowd rises to a fever pitch.
“That was the most hype entrance to a solo show,” Walker says with a laugh as he sits down to play his first song of the night, “Canyon”.
There was no opener, no backing band behind him. Suddenly it was just Walker and his guitar before a packed house of Dallasites eager to support him.
Among those people was Paul Hinojo, Walker’s former bandmate in the in the country-rock powerhouse Ottoman Turks.
“It was a gut punch hearing the news,” Hinojo says. “In all my years of knowing Josh, he’s always had a tendency to come out on top. I’m more used to seeing him win it all on Black 20 than to get cleaned out by the casino, though I assure you both have happened. Seeing him on stage though, he clearly hasn’t missed a beat. I’ve been with him on stage, seen him in packed rooms and seen him in damn near empty rooms. Through it all, his songwriting ability can just destroy you. It’s a thing of beauty.”
Later on stage, Walker asked “Have y’all cried yet?” to a smattering of laughter and applause. “I’ll get ya, don’t worry,” he joked.
He closed the night with his latest release, “Thank You For Listening,” an apropos conclusion to a night otherwise filled with uncertainty.
The song was written in one sitting for an album of the same name. On Thank You For Listening, Walker tagged the title track alongside 11 re-recordings of some of his most popular songs.
“I played as an acoustic solo artist for a long time around Texas before I started touring heavily with the band,” he says. “I have a lot of old fans that remember my songs that way. I thought it would be nice to have a version of the songs that were more like my early years, or what it would have sounded like to watch me play at [Deep Ellum bar] Adair’s.”
Whether at Adair’s, in arenas with The Killers or a somber night at the Kessler, Dallas is always there for Walker. His voice might be softer, but the city’s love for him is as loud as ever.
“I wouldn't have a career if Dallas hadn't supported me so fully over the years,” Walker says. “If I'm gonna play anywhere I'm gonna play here, just to show people that I'm fighting as hard as I can.”
