Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan has revealed that his wife, Jennifer Lei Li Keenan, is battling breast cancer. The singer detailed his spouse’s journey in a new Instagram post marking her birthday today (August 12th).
Keenan, who mostly remains private about his family life, opened up about his wife’s diagnosis and subsequent treatments, praising her as his “rock” and his “muse.” The couple share a daughter, Lei Li Agostina Maria, born in 2014.
In writing about his wife’s cancer battle, Keenan revealed that Jennifer first discovered a lump in her breast in November 2020, and was diagnosed with breast cancer on Christmas Eve. His full Instagram post, which contains a gallery of photos of his wife, reads as follows:
“Today is my wife’s Birthday. @licoricelust I’m going to guess that it will be viewed as her favorite. In late Nov she felt a lump in her breast. On X-mas eve, she was diagnosed with cancer. She didn’t collapse into a pile of self pity. She didn’t launch into an entitlement rage. She didn’t act out in any self destructive manner. Instead she asked the right questions, listened to her doctors, made a plan, and stuck to it. And when there were things she couldn’t do on her own, she asked for help. Before the chemo could take her hair, she cut it all off and had our friend Brooke make her a wig to match. And then she went to work. No one was the wiser. She’s successfully navigated both the chemo and the surgery, and now begins the radiation. And all without whining or bitching. She is my rock. She is my muse. She is my ALL. Be like Jen. Happy Birthday, My Love. Cheers to this one and many more.”
Jennifer works with Maynard as a lab manager of the singer’s Caduceus Cellars winery and as a product developer for his band Puscifer. Her staff bio on the Caduceus website reads: “Southern by birth and rebel by choice with an affinity for most things dangerous, it was only natural I found my place in the Verde Valley. Here since 2004, I have managed to take my dichotomy of extremes and make a living at it; manager of the lab for Caduceus Cellars Winery by day and product development for Puscifer by night. In my spare time I race cars, design for my product line Licorice Lust and hang with my dogs.”
Maynard himself has had his own health battles during the pandemic, twice contracting COVID-19, and detailing the long-haul symptoms he had as a result, including lung damage and coughing fits. When Heavy Consequence checked in with him to discuss Puscifer’s livestream concert earlier this year, he told us that “everything’s grand” as far as his health.
Best wishes to Jennifer Lei Li Keenan as she starts her radiation treatments in her battle against breast cancer. See Maynard’s Instagram post below.
