Taboo From the Black Eyed Peas Opens Up About His Cancer Battle: ‘Nothing Prepares You for Cancer’
World Cancer Day is on Feb. 4, and Black Eyed Peas star Jimmy Luis Gomez, better known as Taboo, is honoring it by sharing his story of strength and resilience in the face of cancer, which he says has been his greatest challenge in life.
Gomez thought he was healthy when he was diagnosed with stage II testicular cancer in 2014. He had been eating right and working out, but he had also been neglecting a nagging pain in his back since about 2006. His busy touring schedule led him to put off seeing a doctor, but eventually, he ended up heading to the emergency room with severe back pain.
The diagnosis took him by surprise. The 41-year-old father of three says the first thing he thought about was his kids.
“Am I gonna live? Is this my last day? Everything just like, flashed before me,” he reveals.
Gomez soon had surgery to remove his right testicle, and he says recovering from that surgery posed its own unique challenges when he found himself — a former addict — hooked up to a morphine drip during his recovery.
“I remember feeling scared because I did go through drug addiction,” he shares. “I’ve never told this story before, but when I had morphine pumped in me, it opened Pandora’s box. And for a split second, I started feeling like I needed more. So I would press that button and it was my addictive personality kicking in.”
Gomez says the other members of the Black Eyed Peas were supportive, visiting him during his treatments and even helping him to find a doctor to coordinate his chemotherapy regimen.
And while chemotherapy may have saved his life, Gomez describes it as “a nightmare, war, and torture all in one.” He says during his treatment, he couldn’t recognize himself in the mirror and was forced to confront his ego.
When going through chemotherapy, he notes, “You’re not a cancer patient; you are cancer.”
During that time, Gomez found inspiration in an unlikely place: sports heroes. He says that hearing ESPN sportscaster Stuart Scott and former NFL quarterback Jim Kelly talk about their cancer battles gave him inspiration to keep fighting.
“You find rehabilitation sometimes in the places where you wouldn’t expect it to be,” Gomez says. “I thought it would be a song. I thought it would be music, a music video, but it wasn’t. It was sports.”
Gomez has been cancer-free for two years, and he says his battle against the disease has changed how he views both life and his career as a songwriter.
“Before, I was writing, you know, my styles, my lyrics. ‘I’m such and such. I’m the best this, that, and the third,’” he says, “because I come from a hip-hop background, so it was always about ego.”
These days, he says his music is more personal and is about “being of service.” He’s working with the American Cancer Society as a global ambassador, and he’s written a new song called “The Fight,” about his cancer battle.
“The message [of the song] is you’re not alone, because I know exactly firsthand the struggle and the strife that you are going through,” he says.
Check out the video below to watch his performance in Yahoo Studios, watch the official music video for “The Fight” here, and to download “The Fight,” visit taboo.cancer.org.
Gomez says people come up to him and tell him that his song speaks to them, as cancer patients or survivors.
“I’m glad to say I’m able to help others who are going through the same fight,” he says. “I use my experience as a testimony of hope, inspiration, motivation, and just to get people charged up for life.”
