John Berry is like the cat of country music -- he has nine lives.
The man with the golden voice nearly died in a motorcycle crash in the '80s and in May of 1994 he had brain surgery. Two small holes were bored into his skull to drain a cyst.
Last November, he was under the knife again, this time for a singer's worst nightmare -- surgery on his throat.
"In August my throat was starting to get worrisome, and then by the time September came around, it was horrible," says Berry, who is best known for the hits Your Love Amazes Me and Standing On The Edge of Goodbye.
When two weeks of voice rest didn't make things better, the decision was made to operate on Berry's throat.
"It was the scariest thing in the world," he confesses.
"The doctor didn't want to scare me, but he later said it looked like a hand-grenade had gone off in my throat."
Thankfully, he has recovered well and was able to finish his next album Better Than A Biscuit, which is due in stores Sept. 8.
He's also back on the road performing. He'll play the Camrose Big Valley Jamboree Sunday.
It hasn't been easy getting to this point.
After surgery, he couldn't talk for a couple of weeks: "Two weeks of complete silence, not a sound, not an utterance.
"I had a pad and pen and if I was mad I'd throw the pad. That symbolized that I was yelling," says Berry.
But being the positive thinker that he is, he shrugs it off with a laugh: "They were the happiest two weeks of my wife's life."
What his wife Robin, who sings in Berry's band, doesn't know is that he did break his silence once, near the end of the two weeks.
"The first time I spoke ... I was at a drive-thru at McDonald's with my kids. I forgot I wasn't supposed to talk and I said, 'I'll have two Happy Meals ,please.' "
After a moment of shock he composed himself and "carefully finished up the order."
His laugh returns when he realizes how unprofound his first words were.
Berry is happy with the new CD, which was recorded both pre- and post-surgery.
"Right Behind The Rain (a track on the CD) is the story of my life. That could be the theme song for the John Berry ABC movie of the week. I've had a lot of difficulty but somehow I keep looking forward and finding the good, no matter how hard the circumstances may be.
"What's the point of looking back -- It ain't going to help you."
That may be easy to say but when Berry was having his operation, he had to cancel quite a few shows, which he says cost him a million dollars of gross income.
Adding salt to the wound is the fact a radio station, that he won't name, refuses to play his songs because he cancelled a date there.
"It could cost me a No. 1 hit ... one station can make a difference."
His low tones don't last long as he's calling the Sun on his cellular phone from a toy store where he's buying hockey sticks for his boys Sean, 4, and Caelan James, 3. His daughter Taylor-Marie is 8.
The boys are patient throughout the interview, but fuss a little toward the end.
"They have real horses at home and they're fighting over a stick-horse," Berry laughs.
He also has some other shopping on his mind. He and Robin celebrated their 10th anniversary early this month and he still hasn't found the perfect gift.
"She likes jewellry and has great taste. I on the other hand don't."
On their eighth anniversary she had her wedding ring reset by a top jeweller -- the ring includes the diamond Berry gave her, between her mother's and her grandmother's diamond.
"She'd rather look and find something she likes."
A friend and business partner has given the couple an anniversary gift that they'll use after the show in Camrose -- a couple of days at the Banff Springs Hotel and some horseback riding.
He promises his Big Valley show will be great and says: "There's one part of the show where we break it down and do a little bit of an accoustic set for an indoor show, but for the outdoor shows we keep it rockin'. We don't calm it down."
