In June 2004, Watts was diagnosed with throat cancer, despite having quit smoking in the late 1980s, and underwent a course of radiotherapy. The cancer has since gone into remission. "I went into hospital," he recalled, "and eight months later Mick said, 'We're going to do a record. But we'll only do it when you're ready.' They were buggering about, writing songs, and when I was ready I went down and that was it, "A Bigger Bang". Then I did a two-year tour. It seems that whenever we stop, I get ill. So maybe I should carry on!"