Suggs is happy with his new "Arsenal knees" ahead of Madness hometown Rock N Roll Circus show

1 October 2026, 12:14 | Updated: 1 October 2026, 12:20

Suggs has been bouncing around for a long time and now has new knees to help him carry on.

Suggs has been performing live for half a century now, and has had a lifetime of jumping around on stage as frontman of ska pop legends Madness.

As you might expect, all that bouncing has taken its toll on his body, and one of Suggs's daughters – who works for Arsenal Football Club –  introduced her dad to one of the team's surgeons.

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“He said, 'I remember you – I've seen videos of Madness. You've been jumping up and down for two hours every night for 50 years'," Suggs told The Daily Telegraph.

"The cartilage just wears out, and cartilage doesn't repair, unlike muscles. It comes to a certain point where it needs to be replaced.

"So I took the plunge, and it was extremely painful. But they're ten times better."

Madness - House Of Fun - Live At The O2 London 2025

When the journalist quipped that Suggs, a lifelong Chelsea fan, now has "Arsenal knees", he replied: "You bastard, that's right!

"Well, I'm very pleased I did it... I wouldn’t have been able to do those gigs.

"The muscle memory of how I used to move is there. But coming back to complete mobility took a little time."

Madness - Hit Parade Album

Madness have announced a series of Forest Live shows for next summer with support from Scouting For Girls, as well as their own homecoming Rock n Roll Circus mini festival in London.

The band will play Gunnersbury Park on Saturday, July 24 and fans can sign up for pre-sale access now.

Madness released their last album Theatre of the Absurd Presents C'est la Vie in 2023, and it became their first to top the UK albums chart.