Kings of Leon Drummer Nathan Followill Loses Voice

Who's going to say '1-2-3-4' now?

Nathan Followill, drummer with the Kings of Leon, has been struck down with a bacterial infection that has caused him to lose his voice, Contact Music reports. The Tennesseans are currently on tour in the UK and Ireland in support of fifth album 'Come Around Sundown' and the cold weather afflicting much of the region is apparently responsible for the ailing drummer's poor health.

"When we do these runs in the dead of winter, people get sick and stuff like that," explained frontman Caleb Followill, "but apart from Nathan, we're all fine." The singer added that "the crowds have been great" on the tour.

The arena rockers' itinerary takes them to Dublin, Birmingham, Sheffield and Manchester in the coming weeks before the European leg of the trek concludes with a pre-Christmas, Dec. 21 stop at the O2 Arena in London. The good news for Nathan Followill's suffering vocal chords is that, after a two month lay-off, the band's live duties resume in the considerably more hospitable climes of Brisbane, Australia, with a month-long southern hemisphere jaunt to follow.

Get well soon, Nathan. If nothing else, at least the stickman's speechless plight disproves the old joke: 'What's the last thing a drummer says in a band? "How about we try one of my songs?"'