AceShowbiz - Arch Enemy star Angela Gossow was so taken aback when her pal Adam Darski aka Nergal was diagnosed with cancer this summer, she rushed to the doctor's surgery to undergo a health check-up.

The frontwoman has been rocked by the recent deaths of rockers including Ronnie James Dio, Slipknot's Paul Gray, former Stereophonics drummer Stuart Cable and Avenged Sevenfold's Jimmy Sullivan aka The Rev. Gossow was left further devastated when Behemoth's Darski revealed he was suffering from a life-threatening form of leukaemia in August - but the sad news was the wake-up call she needed to ensure she takes better care of herself.

Gossow tells Britain's Kerrang! magazine, "It's been a terrible year for metal. Everyone (in the rock world) is starting to look at their own consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, what kind of food they eat and just how much touring their body can take. It's a genuine concern for me. I'm always watching how (my bandmates) eat and how they're doing. If they're sick for a long time, that's definitely a worry because on tour, you just think, 'I'm just tired from touring'. But it could be much more serious."

"I'm a workaholic. I don't sleep much and I do sports and go running every day because I want to do this for as long as I can. My friend Nergal is the same type of person; he works like crazy. I just hope it didn't catch up with him. There were times when I thought, 'That could be me', so I got a blood sample taken just in case; you never know who else can get it (leukaemia)."