Frampton has inclusion body myositis, an incurable condition that causes the muscles to weaken.  He spoke about it for the first time on CBS This Morning: Saturday, telling co-host Anthony Mason that he’s been recording music as fast as he can, before he’s unable to play any more.

“Between October and two days ago, we’ve done like 33 new tracks,” he said. “I just want to record as much as I can, now, for obvious reasons.”

Frampton was diagnosed about three-and-a-half years ago, after he fell off stage, but last fall, he really began to feel the effects.  After a serious fall while on vacation in Hawaii, Frampton says, he decided he had to give up touring.

“What will happen, unfortunately, is that it affects the finger flexors,” he told Mason. “That’s the first telltale sign…So for a guitar player, it’s not very good.”

At this point, Frampton says going up and down stairs is difficult for him, as is lifting things up over his head.  When he told his children about his condition, they were “devastated,” but he says he reminded them, “It’s not life-threatening. It’s life-changing.’

Frampton, who’s participating in a new drug trial, says he’s doing a farewell tour because, “I know that I will be at the top of my… game for this tour and I will make it through this and people won’t be saying, ‘Oh you know, he can’t play as good.'”

“I can,” he added. “But we just don’t know for how long.”

Frampton’s Farewell Tour kicks off June 16 in Catoosa, Oklahoma, and will wrap up October 12 in Concord, California.

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