Stephen Carpenter of Deftones shares more about his health issues

Stephen Carpenter, the guitarist for the Deftones, has talked more about his battles with Type 2 Diabetes, as per theprp. He was unaware that he had the illness for a number of years before receiving a diagnosis in 2024. His bandmates urged him to get appropriate medical attention when he disclosed that he had reached his lowest point due to the unidentified illness that year. In an interview with Zane Lowe last summer, Carpenter disclosed that he had never seen a doctor before, but the disease’s eventual diagnosis forced him to do that. Premier Guitar discussed the illness and how it impacted him as he was writing and recording Deftones‘ most recent album, “private music.”

I had no clue what I was going through. I’d just been so out of it for the past four or five years—all the things that go with poor diet and poor exercise, that’s what I experienced.

During the whole writing process, I was just tired, but I was not connecting how I felt to what I was doing. When we went in to start tracking the music, thankfully we got all of our scratch tracks done, because shortly after that, something had got me all messed up. Like, every day, I was just shy of crying from pain that was in my right arm. I couldn’t even move it.

I did what I could to just take care of myself—at least as best as I understood what I was going through. And thankfully, when it was time to actually track my guitar parts, my body was feeling better, and I was able to physically do what I had to do.

The 55-year-old Carpenter blamed his health problems on becoming older rather than any underlying illness, despite the concerning indicators mentioned above.

I just thought it was old-man life sh*t. I was self-medicating, hoping I was doing the right thing, and always hoping things would get better so I wouldn’t have to do any of that. But unfortunately, you can only kick a can so far down the road before you run out of road

He said this about how he feels now that he has received treatment for the illness and changed his way of life.

I’m very glad I got help. Type 2 diabetes was affecting me on a number of levels for a long time, and I’m grateful to have that information now and be able to deal with it. I’m also really grateful to everyone else in the band—their positive energy really carried me through that period of time, and really carried us through the making of the album.

A funny episode happened.

I’ve had two MRIs in the last year, and each time, I found myself thinking, ‘Man, how can I bring a recorder in here and record it?’ The sounds those machines make are so wild. The techs were like, ‘You can listen to music while we’re doing it.’ And I’m like, ‘No—I want to listen to the machine!’

Carpenter also named 2012’s “Koi No Yokan” as his favorite Deftones record to play during the aforementioned chat.

‘Koi‘ is our record that I enjoy playing the most; I have the most fun playing those songs, physically speaking.

Upcoming shows:

• Friday, February, 20, 2026 – London, United Kingdom – The O2
• Friday, March, 13, 2026 – Santiago, Chile – Lollapalooza Chile 2026
• Sunday, March, 15, 2026 – San Isidro, Argentina – Lollapalooza Argentina 2026
• Tuesday, March, 17, 2026 – Luque, Paraguay – Asunciónico 2026
• Friday, March, 20, 2026 – São Paulo, Brazil – Lollapalooza Brasil 2026
• Sunday, March, 22, 2026 – Bogotá, Colombia – Estéreo Picnic 2026
• Friday, March, 27, 2026 – Monterrey, Mexico – Tecate Pa’l Norte 2026
• Sunday, March, 29, 2026 – Mexico City, Mexico – Palacio de los Deportes
• Saturday, May, 02, 2026 – Sydney, Australia – Qudos Bank Arena
• Sunday, May, 03, 2026 – Sydney, Australia – Qudos Bank Arena
• Wednesday, May, 06, 2026 – Brisbane, Australia – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
• Thursday, May, 07, 2026 – Brisbane, Australia – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
• Saturday, May, 09, 2026 – Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena
• Sunday, May, 10, 2026 – Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena
• Wednesday, May, 13, 2026 – Auckland, New Zealand – Spark Arena
• Monday, May 18th, 2026 – Tokyo, JPN – Garden Theater
• Tuesday, May 19th, 2026 Osaka, JPN – Zepp Bayside
• Tuesday, August, 18, 2026 – Berlin, Germany – Parkbühne Wuhlheide
• Thursday, August, 20, 2026 – Charleville-Mézières, France – Cabaret Vert 2026
• Sunday, August, 23, 2026 – London, United Kingdom – Outbreak Fest 2026
• Tuesday, August, 25, 2026 – Dublin, Ireland – Irish Museum of Modern Art
• Thursday, August, 27, 2026 – Edinburgh, United Kingdom – Royal Highland Centre
• Friday, August, 28 to Sunday, August, 30, 2026 – Lisbon, Portugal – Meo Kalorama 2026
• Saturday, August, 29, 2026 – Saint-Cloud, France – Rock en Seine 2026
• Saturday, October, 24, 2026 – Fort Worth, TX, USA – Sick New World Texas 2026

Tickes can be purchased here.